Escape From Tarkov
by Needle Gunner
Summary: Yukiteru Amano is a BEAR PMC operative sent into the city of Tarkov in the Norvinsk Region to investigate any illicit activities by the massive TerraGroup corporation. What he finds inside the city will impact him for eternity. Reviews and suggestions welcome; story may change since Escape from Tarkov is still in closed beta as of this writing. Rated M for some fucked up shit.
1. Chapter 1

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production._ _Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

 _With each passing day the situation in the Norvinsk region grows more and more complicated. Incessant warfare in Tarkov has sparked massive panic; the local population has fled the city, but those who stayed are looking to improve their fortunes at the expense of others. Having accepted the new reality, savage Tarkov locals - scavengers also known as "Scavs" flocked into well-armed gangs and started the redivision of the city. Nowadays, Tarkov is separated by unseen borders, controlled by different groups. Gain-greedy gunmen would go to any length to have their way, including the murder of civilians and direct confrontation with two private military companies. Tarkov is sealed off by UN peacekeepers and troops from the Russian National Guard and the Armed Forces, supply chains are cut, communication with operational command is lost, and in these conditions everyone has to make his own choices of what to do and how to get out of the chaos-ridden metropolis._

 _ **Tarkov city, Norvinsk region. Present time**_ _._

 _The Norvinsk region's Special Economic Zone became a gateway between Russia and Europe. Preferential conditions for large international companies, however, have not only attracted law-abiding businesses, but corporations of dubious intent as well. In Tarkov, one of the largest cities of the region, a transatlantic corporation became the ground zero of a political scandal. Six months later, the political standoff escalated into an armed conflict involving UN peacekeepers, the National Guard of Russia and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and two private military companies. The region's borders were sealed off, and those trapped in the middle of this localized flare up were isolated from the outside world._

 _ **The confrontation on the edge of darkness**_ _._

 _The most active forces in the Norvinsk region are two private military companies, hired by the sides of the initial conflict. USEC, employed by the notorious TerraGroup international corporation, vigorously engages in armed clashes, hindering the investigation of TerraGroup's activities carried on by local authorities worldwide, especially in Russia and the United States. Moreover, according to numerous foreign and federal intelligence agencies and activist organizations, USEC provides armed cover to illegal work and research of the foreign company, whereas BEAR, allegedly created on direct orders of the Russian government, and despite a formal ban on private military groups in Russia, is employed by the Norvinsk region officials to uncover any evidence of TerraGroup's illicit activities._

* * *

"Heads up. At least three Scavs patrolling the gas station, one armed with an AK, rest armed with shotguns, and looking none too friendly. Where are you guys?"

"We're coming to you from your six o'clock, be advised. Hang in there and do not open fire unless you've been fired upon and you have a clear shot."

"Copy that."

I then checked my own AK-74M's magazine.

It was almost empty, owing to the fact that we just blasted through a Scav roadblock at the bridge. Luckily, I still had three fresh magazines in my tactical rig, plus extra ammo in my secure container and backpack.

And in the event that I do run out of ammo, and the guys can't give me any more extras, well, there's a reason I carry around a Gerber Downrange Tomahawk that I stole from a dead USEC operative.

However, that earlier firefight got me a lot of good loot, including an M4A1 carbine, some magazines and ammo for it, a brand new Glock, and a box of grenades. This meant that I don't have much space left in my backpack to stash any more shit I find.

I immediately changed magazines, checked my holstered MP-443 Grach, which also had two extra magazines in my rig, and went prone while waiting for my buddies to arrive.

Then, as I moved closer to our rally point past the rail bridge, it fucking happened again, as it always had for the past ten years..

 _"Goodbye, Yukki... I... love... you..."_

 _"YUNOOOOOOOO!"_

 _Shit, shit, not now! Aaaaaagh!_

"You alright, Yukiteru?"

Their arrival snapped me out of my stupor. I wasn't in our old middle school building, cradling a dying Yuno. I was somewhere within the customs area located somewhere within the sealed-off Russian city of Tarkov.

"Yeah, Yuri, I'm fine, I'm fucking fine, it's just that, uh, I'm having those shitty flashbacks again."

"They're nothing a good bottle and a fucking good session from one of Elvira's shrink friends can fix. Come on, we gotta get outta here fast. Word on the grapevine is that USEC guys are scouring the place."

Anton then motioned for me to take point, with Yuri covering our approach towards the gas station. I nodded and immediately made my way to the barricade near the gas station, with Anton not far behind.

Then, just as I reached the outer barricade, we immediately came under fire from the gas station. The fucking Scavs had already noticed us.

I took aim at the general direction of the Scav fire and sent five rounds flying before got knocked down to the ground by what turned out to be two 5.45 rounds.

I felt my rig and self to see if I got hit. The plates and the rig's ballistic fabric stopped the rounds. But that doesn't mean they didn't fucking hurt. Also, none of the magazine and equipment pouches were affected.

 _"You alright, Yukki?!"_

 _Fuck!_

"Fucking shit! I'm hit, but the bullets didn't penetrate my armor! Cover me!"

Once I was on the ground, Anton and Yuri then started to provide covering fire while I got back up and closed in on the Scavs, being careful not to hit me in the ass.

"Alright, Yukiteru, cover us, we're coming towards you!"

Once I got to cover, I immediately checked if I had any ammo left in my mag and my AK's chamber. I then went and changed mags.

I spotted the Kalashnikov-armed Scav sending burst after burst of 5.45 at my guys. He didn't realize I was there until I was already sending my own bullets toward him.

 _Your fucking Scav ass is fucking dead, you fucking bitch._

"Omae wa mou shindeiru."

Out of the twelve bullets I sent his way, three bullets went into his right leg, one went into his head, one went into his chest, and the rest went into the gas station proper. He fell over just as he was aiming his rifle at me. The fucker never had a chance to return fire.

Once the Scav fell dead, his buddies turned their attention to me. Buckshot flew over my head as I scrambled to take aim at them from behind cover.

"Shit!"

But then, Kalashnikovs barked from behind me, and soon enough, the shotgun fire stopped. The shotgun guys fell dead, and once they were in my line of sight, Yuri motioned for me to cover him and Anton as they searched the dead Scavs for anything useful that we can still carry.

Which, when considering the size of the bags we carried, and the stuff we looted earlier, wasn't too much. Good thing the Scavs didn't have much on them either, since they carried only some medical supplies, some few thousand rubles on each Scav, random junk we could trade for some good stuff, drinks and food in addition to their guns and ammo.

Yuri and I took everything we looted from the shotgun guys while Anton fancied himself an additional AK. Once we were done looting the corpses and the gas station, we then made our way to the industrial area beyond the wall to the the right by going through the left side of the gas station and continuing down the road before reaching another abandoned checkpoint and going through the hole in the wall there, bypassing what turned out to be a bunch of empty gun and ammo crates. Somebody had been here before us and hid the bodies of the Scavs who usually populated this joint.

Fuckers probably looted everything in sight too.

Upon entering the industrial area, we were greeted by a hail of suppressed fire from our right flank. I then saw our attackers, who appeared to be USEC operatives, open fire and manuever to positions further away from us. We retaliated immediately, forcing them to take cover and retreat. We could only assume that they were also trying to get out of the city, or at least retreat to their hideout. Although we never saw bodies lying around, the blood scattered near their position signaled to us that we at least hit them, and they were forced to limp or drag themselves to safety.

"Anybody else hurt? My right arm got grazed by a 5.56 round or two."

"I'm good, nothing hit me."

"I took one to the arm, but it's not that bad. Cover me, I'm fixing this one."

Yuri then took a first aid kit from his tactical rig and went to work disinfecting and covering up the wound. The bullet was intentionally left in, so that the bleeding doesn't get much worse. He then put the kit back in his tactical rig, switched to the shotgun he got earlier, and took point, heading in the direction of where the USEC operatives were earlier. Anton covered our rear.

Upon reaching the locked gate to our right, we were once again under fire, but this time, we were being shot at by yet another gang of Scavs. We immediately returned fire as we manuevered to retreat back to our entry point. Once the firing stopped, I took point and went to the left hand side of the wall, following the road until we managed to find what appeared to be the exit.

As I opened the door, I felt a familiar presence in the area. I never exactly knew what it was, but it felt like something I was missing for a long time.

"Hey, are you alright? You're staring off into the distance again."

"I'm fine, it's just that I-I-I think have to look for something outside."

"But we're basically out of here, Yukiteru! What are you gonna do?"

"I'll catch up with you guys back at the hideout. You guys go ahead. I need some time alone."

"Well, if that's how things are going to be then. Take care of yourself, bro."

And then I heard a heavy door open, footsteps trail off into a tunnel leading to the city's underground tunnel network before the door closed. They had already went to our team's hideout in one of the few safe parts of the region.

I looked around me, took off my helmet, rolled up my balaclava into a hat, and took the environment in. My gaze shifted up to see a flock of birds fly overhead and into the distant unknown, probably to a safer part of the region. The air was surprisingly fresh for an abandoned war zone. The forests looked absolutely beautiful, with the branches and leaves moving gracefully with the wind.

If not for this entire mess, this abandoned city would be a perfect tourist spot. But the majesty of nature couldn't change the fact that I was missing something this entire time. I then took one last sip from a near-empty bottle of water in my backpack, pulled my balaclava back down, put my helmet back on and made my way out of the industrial area.

And as I went out of the industrial area and back towards the dormitories, I heard what sounded like commotion in the distance.

Fucking Scavs.

Screaming, taunting and cussing along with shooting and the occasional grenade blast increasingly filled the air as I raced across the heights, grass and trees to the scene of the commotion to find out exactly what was going on.

Usually, when this happens, we'd stumble upon a group of Scavs turning on each other, if not two rival gangs fighting over loot and territory.

I found out later that it was indeed a Scav turf war.

But what I eventually found aside from that would not just help me greatly for the entirety of my quest to escape from Tarkov, but change the way my life had been going for the past decade.


	2. Chapter 2

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production._ _Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

 _"Yukki..."_

 _"Yukki, please..."_

 _"Wake up, Yukki..."_

 _"I've already won the game for us, so please, wake up, Yukki..."_

 _"Yukki...?"_

 _"Oh God, oh God, oh my God, please wake up, Yukki! I can't, I can't, I can't afford to lose you right now!"_

 _"Yukki, please, wake up!"_

 _"Yukki? Oh no, Yukki... Yukki? YUUUKKKKKIIIIIIIII!"_

 _..._

 _"Why, Yukki? Why did choose me over a world where you have everything you wanted?"_

 _"Yuno... I want you to end me."_

 _"B-but, why, Yukki, why? You have to win... I want you to win!_

 _"It's not worth it if you're not with me. Besides, I want you to have a place to call home."_

 _"But I... I can't go through all of this once more! I can't take the pain anymore, Yukki! I can't lose you again, Yukki... I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!"_

 _"I've already seen you die once, Yuno. I can't have that again."_

 _"Yukki..."_

 _"Do it, Yuno. I won't be mad. I deserve it."_

 _"I can't, Yukki... I can't..."_

 _"Neither can I. So please, end this. I only hope that the next timeline you end up doesn't force you back into this cursed game."_

 _"Yukki..."_

The pink-haired teenaged girl awoke from her slumber. She looked around, hoping to find something, somewhere or someone familiar. They were nowhere in sight, to say the least. But she then heard some men argue and scream unintelligibly, perhaps in another language, not far away. She then tried to move as quietly as possible to see what was going on better, until somebody pulled out a gun and just started shooting.

"POPALI, POPALI SUKI!"

"DAVAI, DAVAI!"

"AAAAH! BOZHE MOY, NYET, NYET, NYEEEEE-"

"BLYAAAAT!"

"A NUUU, CHEEKI BREEKI I V DAMKE!"

The screaming was now accompanied by gunfire and explosions seemingly coming from everywhere. The girl immediately went prone on the ground, getting her clothes dirty in the process. She then noticed that there was a knife stuck on the ground beside her and some sort of container strapped to her thigh. It had an adequately-sized full bottle of water, some snacks, some rolls of what appeared to be Russian rubles, and her phone, along with its charger and a spare full battery.

 _So I'm somewhere in Russia now? That explains the currency, the language and the landscape, but why are they fighting? What's going on?_

She went back down when she felt a bullet pass right by her head. She needed to find somewhere safe to stay in for a while until everything calmed down.

She crawled her way to a tree not far from her, which was in front of the wall which she thought separated the area she was in from the rest of the country. While she was crawling towards the tree, she came upon the dead body of a man who looked to be in his early to mid-thirties.

His clothes told her that she was looking at some sort of bandit or scavenger type. He didn't look quite decomposed, which meant that he died just recently, most likely from the firefight earlier. He had a small hole in his forehead, and blood went into the soil surrounding his corpse. He also held what appeared to be an AKS-74u carbine in his right hand. He had a quite sizeable backpack on him, and he also wore a vest with straps on the back which held it on him with what appeared to be some form of soft body armor underneath.

She took the carbine from the man's cold dead hands and immediately went through his stuff to find something useful. The vest had three full magazines and ammunition for the short AK, as well a pair of full magazines for the pistol she found in his holster.

The backpack contained some more food and drinks, some medical supplies, a(n MP-153 semi-automatic) shotgun along with a bunch of 12 gauge shotgun shells, another pistol and some ammo for it, and a pair of hand grenades. The man's pockets produced a half-empty pistol magazine, another hand grenade, a small medkit, and a pack of crackers. The empty scabbard strapped to his thigh happened to be large enough for the knife she found to fit in.

She then realized that her clothes - her usual blue/violet school outfit - would make her stick out more than a sore thumb. The girl looked around to see if someone was still around. A gang of men wearing clothes similar to those the guy she stumbled upon was wearing was moving further away from the area, their backs turned to her.

Once the men were out of sight, she immediately began taking the dead man's weapons, ammunition, gear and clothes off his corpse before taking off her own. The girl found the man's clothes a bit too big for her, especially his boots. They were, however, not as dirty and stinky as she expected. She then put her old clothes in the backpack. Afterwards, she went to work figuring out how her new weapons worked before putting on the gear she found. She was careful not to make too much noise that would attract attention.

Once she was finished strapping the body armor and load bearing vest to her body, she returned to crawling to the tree she was headed for earlier. The weight of the dead man's gear slowed her down further, not to mention the discomfort caused by the vest and body armor pressing down on her breasts, which were quite well-developed for someone who looked like a middle school-age girl. She took a mental note to adjust the straps later once she gets to a safer location.

Upon reaching the tree, she immediately took one knee, readied her newly-acquired weapon and scanned the area, looking for friendly or hostile characters nearby. She kept scanning the area until she was satisfied that the area was clear.

She then started moving across the ground, passing a dead body or two, until she reached what appeared to be an apartment/dormitory complex, which she presumed housed some company's workers sometime before whatever happened here took place. The central yard was surrounded by cars, with their owners nowhere in sight. Trash, debris and random pieces of junk were everywhere, sometimes in sizable piles. She also spotted a road connecting the complex to some sort of main highway, with what appeared to be a small convenience store indicating the entrance to the complex.

The girl took only one quick look at her backpack to know that she can't hang around any further to check the apartments and cars for anything even remotely useful. Then, as she made her way to the highway, she suddenly spotted the same gang of scavengers from earlier heading towards the apartments, talking and laughing loudly among themselves. She couldn't discern from a distance whether or not they knew she was there, nor could she understand enough Russian to know if they were planning to ambush her.

She hid in the surrounding bushes and trees, and crawled her way to the highway hoping that none of them spotted her.

But alas, fate (or Deus?) had other plans.

One of the men spotted some blades of grass move quite differently while the wind was blowing past them. Not risking another ambush like earlier, he fired his trusty Makarov towards the offending patch.

His comrades then heard a burst come from very close by, and saw their pal fall dead from a 5.45x39mm round to the forehead. Some of them also got hit, while those who were still unscathed tried to either find cover or make themselves smaller targets while retaliating with their own weapons at the same time. A few even went out of their way to get their wounded buddies out of the firing line.

Once the first pistol bullets hit the ground near her, the girl immediately turned around and opened fire on the group, immediately killing her attacker with a single bullet to the head and hitting his other buddies. She then took cover behind a tree as the scavengers immediately returned fire with their weapons, which turned out to be pistols and pump shotguns, with the occasional Mosin-Nagant rifle here and there, unlike her carbine AK and the semi-automatic shotgun in her backpack.

She was surprised at how well she handled and shot the short AK for someone who only had it a short while ago. The girl then brought two more of the scavengers down, and finished off three of their wounded. But soon enough, the remaining scavengers regrouped, and she found herself pinned down by pistol rounds, buckshot and 7.62x54mmR bullets which had a better chance of penetrating the tree she was hiding behind. She couldn't risk getting herself shot without managing to throw her grenades.

Then she heard more gunfire from behind her, but this time it wasn't directed toward her. The last scavengers immediately hid behind an abandoned car, which then gave the girl the signal to resume firing. The bullets simply went through the vehicle's relatively thin steel, hitting the scavengers behind. One of the scavengers even made a dash for the nearest apartment building, but was shot dead by the source of the new gunfire.

Once the shooting died down, she immediately crawled her way to a nearby bush to hide in case whoever else was shooting at the scavengers was hostile. Once she was in the bush, she then found what appeared to be her savior.

A figure, presumably of a man, came into view. His face was obscured by a balaclava, his head protected by some sort of helmet which had a communications headset of sorts on it and what appeared to be a mount for night optics with a camera attached to it.

The torso was covered by some sort of armor which appeared to be heavier and stronger than hers, his vest/plate carrier/tactical rig was different than hers, as it also had a portion at the back, his backpack was bigger than the one she carried, and by the looks of it, it carried more stuff.

He wore an olive green tactical shirt with the sleeves rolled up, green digital camouflage trousers tucked into black tactical boots covered in what looked like mud, blood and guts, and he held what appeared to be a full-sized AK rifle with attachments aplenty in his hands, which were covered by black gloves. He also had the same pistol as the one in her holster secured in his own, and he also appeared to have the same secured container as the one she had strapped to her thigh.

And lastly, something about this one felt familiar. Very familiar.

That last bit got her curiosity. As she went to get a closer look at the figure, she unintentionally snapped a few twigs and branches on her way out.

The man then suddenly looked in her direction, gun drawn. He then shouted something towards her direction in what she presumed was Russian. The man's voice sounded somewhat gruff and somewhat older, but it sounded eerily familiar.

 _Yukki... Wait, I can't be imagining things, not right now! Th-that can't be Yukki! Wait, why do I even think it's Yukki?_

"I said who the fuck is there? Come out or I'll fucking chew your ass up with this motherfucker!"

Not wanting to further agitate the man, she then stood up with both hands pointed upward. The man then motioned for her to come out of the treeline so that he could better identify her. She then nodded and started walking to the highway, with her gun still held in her right hand. Upon reaching the highway, she then saw the man grab her gun and put it on the floor.

Then, suddenly, their eyes made contact for more than a few moments. If his aura and voice made her doubt her already dented state of mind, his eyes gave her even more questions than answers. The man also looked shocked at her appearance. He pulled what appeared to be a photo out of his rig's pockets, looked at it, then at her, then at the photo again before putting it back in and fixating his eyes on her, with his hands starting to shake.

"Is this seriously real? You can't be..."


	3. Chapter 3

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production._ _Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

"Is this seriously real? You can't be..."

She heard him mutter in intelligible Japanese. Now his voice sounded more natural to her, which only gave her lingering thought more substance.

"You really fucking can't be..."

Then the man removed his helmet, clipped it onto his rig, and rolled his balaclava up into some kind of hat. All the lingering doubts she had about his identity disappeared in an instant. While the man looked somewhat older and rougher, bigger and taller, he was still the handsome young man who stole her heart during that fateful afternoon.

 _"Now that you've got your dream set, I guess from now on we'll be going out together, huh, Ga-Yuno-chan?"_

 _"Well, you can say that... And just call me Yuno, Am-Yu-Yukki..."_

"Y-y-y-Yuno?!"

"Y-y-y-yu-Yukki?! Oh God, it's really you, Yukki!"

"Holy fucking shit! Yuno! It is you!"

It may be hard to believe, but yes, Yukiteru Amano was the man Yuno Gasai was looking at right now. It appeared that whatever chaos caused this place to end up in the state she found it in also brought them back together.

She immediately ran to the operative, who she now knew was Yukki, **her** Yukki and hugged him tightly. She couldn't even say everything she wanted to tell him because she couldn't stop crying into his tactical rig.

"I missed you for a very long damn time, Yuno... I really did... I really fucking did..."

She looked up to see Yukki trying very hard not to cry, even though he was also tearing up.

 _Yukki said he missed me for a long time... Wha-what happened between the two of us so long ago in this timeline?_

"Y-y-y-Yukki, I-i-i-i-I'm sorry... Please believe me, I really am... I'm sorry..."

Even if she was too busy sobbing to tell him, Yukki knew exactly what she meant.

"Don't be sorry, Yuno, don't be. You only did what fate forced you to do, what you thought was the right thing to do. You never knew the truth until it was too late. Fate fucked us hard. I know. So please, stop crying. I'm here. I'm here. We're together again. That's all that fucking matters now."

"W-w-wha-ho-ho-Yukki, how did you-"

"Cut it, cut it. I'll tell you when we get to safety. But, right now..."

The man then took her head in his hands, put his lips on the girl's own, and held her tightly. He didn't give two shits about how wrong this would look anywhere else in the civilized world, he didn't give two shits about his current mission and the reason why he was in Tarkov in the first place, and he didn't give two shits about the two of them kissing in the middle of the road, visible up to a good distance away.

 _Man, her lips feel just as good as I remember they were..._

All Yukki gave a fuck about was the fact that Yuno was with him again.

 _Yukki... What happened to you? To me? To us? To this world? And why?_

But then he pulled away from the kiss, took a look around, gave her back her gun and motioned for her to come with him to the trees and grass. By then she had already stopped crying, and had just finished wiping her tears.

"Ssshhhhh. Stay low and stay quiet. We have company."

When Yuno asked her man what he meant, he pointed to her the group of people slowly approaching the part of the road they were situated in a while ago. Unlike the groups of scavenger/bandit types she saw earlier, however, they were different.

Once they were close enough, she clearly saw that there were six of them, all wearing digital camouflage shirts and what appeared to be tan tactical boots hidden by the length of their pants, which shared the same pattern with their shirts. Their body language and demeanor screamed professional mercenaries.

Around half wore helmets which had a shape quite different from the one Yukki was wearing. She saw one wearing some sort of baseball cap, one wearing a boonie hat and sunglasses, and the last one, a big guy, wore a helmet just like Yukki's with a balaclava and sunglasses covering his face.

The same big guy carried what appeared to be an AK with an even longer barrel and a larger magazine than the ones she and Yukki had. It had quite a few attachments to it, not including the pre-attached bipod. Three of them carried what looked like M4A1 carbines, which were also decked out with attachments, not to mention suppressed. The big guy and the three M4 guys had Glock pistols in their holsters.

The one in the boonie hat, who appeared to be a girl, carried what appeared to be some sort of bolt-action sniper rifle, which had a black and red color scheme painted on it. There were also some vaguely Eastern markings on it, but she couldn't make out if they were hiragana, katakana or kanji or something else. Slung on her back was an AKS-74u just like the one Yuno held in her hands, albeit with a few attachments on it. Her holster held a strange-looking pistol, which Yukki told her was a Stechkin automatic.

The one in the baseball cap carried a snow white 7.62 AKMS, with attachments aplenty, had what appeared to be a snow white Tokarev TT-33 pistol in her holster and a quite hefty backpack, but not as hefty as the one the big guy carried. Unlike the others, this one was clearly identifiable as a female. She had almost pale white skin, pale blue-colored eyes and long hair, a surprisingly pretty face, her eyes had the look of a trained killer looking for prey, and even with all the gear she carried, what they could make out of her body was nice enough to make Yuno a little jealous, to say the least.

"Holy shit, you USEC dickwads are now starting to send fucking pornstars and prostitutes to hunt our fucking asses? Oh wait, see those three helmet dicks and the one in the boonie hat? They have fucking crappy anime patches and keychains on their fucking rigs and headgear and shit! Not to fucking mention Miss Titties Galore's hair here! I almost want to fucking call them a cab and fucking send em to the nearest otaku convention and shit!"

 _Oh Yukki... what did this world do to you that made you into who you are right now?_

As the group got closer, the two could already hear them talking among each other. One sentence in Japanese was answered by another in German, the next sentence came out in Spanish, and the next one was spoken in Russian - or at least that was what Yukki told Yuno. Sometimes, one sentence would be spoken in one language before it changes into another one within the same sentence.

"Uhhh... Yukki? Mind explaining to me who these people are and why you don't like them, to say the least?"

"Like I said, Yuno, I'll explain everything once we get to a safe place. But right now, we gotta stay hidden and stay quiet or else those guys will tear us to shreds."

The big guy then suddenly trained his RPK at their position and fired a short burst which landed just above their heads. The big guy then shrugged after a few more seconds of looking and waiting, thinking that he might just be shooting at something that wasn't there, and most likely explained the earlier burst of fire to his comrades using the same excuse.

"Phew. That was fucking close."

The group then began moving further down the road and away from the two, with someone occasionally stopping to cover their rear, until they were out of their sight.

Once the coast was surely clear, the man put his balaclava and helmet back on, donned a pair of tactical sunglasses he pulled from his pockets, motioned for the young girl to get ready, and then ran like hell across the highway, the girl following suit.

Upon reaching the other side of the road, the man then motioned for the girl to stay close and stay low while they hugged the wall and made their way to the rail bridge up ahead.

Once they reached the rail bridge, the operator then motioned for the girl to position herself on his right.

"See that gas station? That one's normally crawling with Scavs, most likely dumping stuff they don't need at the moment in the open vehicle compartments, cash registers, shelves, racks, boxes and other shit since this entire joint had been looted up in the first few weeks of this mess. The barricade may look like a lot, but you actually can get through or past it. Come with me, I'll show you the way."

"Scavs?"

"Local scavengers. They're called 'savages', 'wild men', 'wild ones' or 'wildlings' in Russian."

They went past the gas station by moving through the forest to the left, being careful not to trip on rocks or stray branches along the way. Yukki noticed that the bodies of the Scavs he and his buddies killed earlier had disappeared, with bloodstains indicating dragging ending right outside the gas station.

He didn't give that one much thought as he focused on getting himself and Yuno out of this part of town. Upon reaching the abandoned checkpoint, he noticed that the door to the checkpoint's guard post was open.

It was locked when he and his buddies came upon it earlier.

"Yuno, get behind those sandbags and cover me, I'll check this one out. And don't bother looking inside those crates, they're all empty."

The operator found barely anything of note inside the guard post, apart from an empty mug, old broadsheets, random trash, an empty rack which was supposed to hold weapons, and a few empty crates. The place had apparently been looted by the USEC mercs they spotted earlier.

When he went up to the second floor, he was met by the corpse of a Scav, which not only looked untouched, but also looked like he'd been dead for a few hours.

He only had a scoped SKS carbine with multiple modifications in his hands. His vest held two extra full magazines and some additional ammunition for the rifle. His pockets were empty save for a few hundred roubles in cash, some keys for rooms in the dormitories they passed, and an empty chocolate wrapper. His small bag contained an additional full magazine, a little more spare ammunition, an unopened and surprisingly cold box of fruit juice, two packs of crackers, and a loaded Makarov pistol.

His pack only had enough space for the ammo, so he decided to give the SKS to Yuno, knowing full well that he had to train her on it and her other weapons later. Along with the rifle, he also gave her the money, the extra magazines and the food he found.

"So, did anybody try and sneak up on us?"

"Nobody came, Yukki, nobody came... Wait, what is that gun you're carrying?"

"An SKS carbine, and I'll teach you how to properly use this along with your AK and the (PYa/MP443) Grach in your holster. You still have space in your rig and/or bag for two more mags?"

"What do you mean by– oh yeah, I do."

The operator then slung the somewhat heavy carbine onto the girl's back, then handed her the extra magazine he held in his hand, which she immediately put into the remaining space in her tactical rig.

"I'll take point, this is where we get out of this area. I'll take point, so cover our rear."

"Whatever you say, my love..."

He then slowly made his way through the hole in the wall into the industrial area, and made sure that the area was clear.

"This place looks clear. Move in, I'll cover you."

The girl then made her way to the hole in the wall, passing the operator's left hand side to get in. Once she made her way inside, he motioned for her to take point and follow the road until she reached the fence.

"But why me? I thought you were going first since you knew the way out?"

"Change of plans. I'll cover your rear, then once you're there, you'll have to cover my approach and then plan out our next course of action once we're both there. I smell something very fishy."

"What is it, Yukki?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production._ _Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

"Change of plans. I'll cover your rear, then once you're there, you'll have to cover my approach and then plan out our next course of action once we're both there. I smell something very fishy."

"What is it, Yukki?"

"Look, just run along that road and take position in the corner, okay? Let me handle this."

Once the operator was done speaking around and made her way to the fence which prevented them from going any further. She then lowered herself onto the ground and shouldered her weapon, facing the road.

The operator was almost at their rally point when he heard suppressed gunfire not far away, followed by bullets flying past him and hitting his surroundings.

He then saw the shooters - the same group of USEC operatives they avoided earlier.

 _Holy fucking shit. You fucking motherfuckers set us up, didn't you?!_

"Fucking shit, it's those fucking otaku! Come here, Yuno, I'm covering you!"

Yukki then went prone, shouldered his own AK and let some bursts loose at their attackers, who immediately went for cover. He then heard Yuno's short AK open up on the USEC contractors from only a few feet behind him.

He told her to aim her carbine higher as her shots were almost hitting the ground.

"Alright, I'm here, Yukki, what do we do now?"

Her question came as the hostiles replied to their return fire with another suppressed storm of lead.

"I'm thinking of something, dammit! For now, we gotta make sure that they don't get to bore us full of holes!"

The operator then moved away from the silo-like structure they hid behind to open up on their attackers, while the girl was scrounging around in her backpack trying to get a grenade.

"The fuck are you doing, Yuno? Get your fucking gun and open up on 'em! I'm reloading!"

She then fired her rifle with one hand - or rather, tried to, with the recoil almost causing her to drop the gun - while holding out a grenade to him with the other. He then snatched the grenade from her hand, pulled the pin, threw it at the general direction of their attackers and hoped for the best, taunting them all the while.

"You fuckers seem to be thirsty! Here, have some motherfucking lemonade!"

The explosion was their cue to run. He took the girl's free hand in his as he scrambled to lead her to the exit, which was already in sight. Upon reaching the door, they heard another explosion, which was surely a grenade their attackers threw to try and catch them dead.

 _Stop wasting your grenades and your ammo, motherfuckers!_

"Now, follow the stairs until you reach a heavy door! Wait for me there!"

He then went back out for a while to send the USEC operatives a parting gift in the form of an entire magazine's worth of ammunition and another grenade of his own, taunting and cussing the USEC operatives all the while.

"Go home, you fucking cuckold pieces of shit! Your bitches are being fucked by other cocksuckers like you!"

Just as the grenade exploded, the operator went back inside the concrete structure housing an entrance to the city's tunnel network, which was their ticket out of here. He closed the door and ran like hell downstairs, where his beloved waited for him.

"Y-Yukki, are you alright?"

"Nothing serious, just some gay as fuck bruises, scratches and a grazed arm, nothing my meds can't fix. Anyway, we gotta get this door open and closed fast. They're looking for us now."

On his signal, the two turned the crank that kept the door closed, straining quietly all the while. Once there was enough space for her to fit, the man urged the girl to go through first as he opened it further enough for him to fit through. Once they were both in the tunnel, they closed the door and turned the crank in reverse to ensure that the door was fully shut.

Once they were sure that the door was indeed fully shut, they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity - about thirty seconds in real time - before they embraced each other and let their pent-up emotions run loose.

"Fourteen fucking years, Yuno. Fourteen fucking years."

"Y-Yukki..."

"Fourteen fucking years I have spent trying to let go of you and move on with my life. Fourteen years wasted mourning someone who I would otherwise cheer the loss of. Fourteen fucking years thinking of what I should've done differently. Fourteen fucking years trying to find love again, only to fail when I realize that no one could ever replace you. I missed you so much, Yuno. So fucking much. "

"Y-Yukki... I missed you too..."

She could only say his name as she scrounged her mind for anything that could comfort her beloved. As the operator continued to sob silently, she tightened her grip around him.

"I've already lost you twice. I can no longer afford to lose you for the third time."

"Neither can I afford to lose you again, Yukki.."

* * *

 _Mamoritai  
Ima no anata  
Yasashikute naketekuru no_

 _Yasashi sugitakara tokini yowa-sa ni makete_  
 _Nigedashite shimau no wa_  
 _Watashi mo onajida ne_

 _Mamoritai_  
 _Zutto yume o_  
 _Setsuna-sa ga miseta ai o_

 _Aishi sugitakara ukeirete hoshikatta_  
 _Wagamama de kurushimeta_  
 _Watashi no orokashi-sa_

 _Negai wa ikite iru_  
 _Ashita o ikite iru_  
 _Kawaranai yo kawaranai yo kokoro wa itsumo_  
 _Negai to ikite iru_  
 _Ashita e ikite iru_  
 _Osorenaide osorenaide shiawase o shinjite_

* * *

The song played inside Yukki's head as he continued to take Yuno's embrace in. He could feel his rig become soaked with her tears.

Then, with the two of them still teary-eyed, Yuno broke from the embrace, and before Yukki could even open his eyes she took his head in her hands and kissed him deeply. He felt the warmth and softness of her lips once more.

"Yuno..."

As the girl was busy coming up with a reply, the PMC's radio suddenly came to life.

"Snowman, this is Black Bear, do you read, over? I repeat, Snowman, this is Black Bear, do you read, over?"

 _Clear radio reception while in an underground tunnel. Never change, Tarkov. Never change._

"Black Bear, this is Snowman, I read you loud and clear. What is it, over?"

"Yukki, who's that?"

He motioned for the girl to stay quiet as he made contact with his comrades.

"Where the hell are you? We've just received word that Prapor wants to see us, and this seems to be important business! Get back here as soon as you can, over!"

"Had to pick somebody up. Got ambushed by USEC suckers on the way back. I'll explain once I get there. Over."

"Got it. See you at the hideout. Black Bear out."

As soon as the conversation was over, the girl repeated her question.

"One of my guys. Let's get going. They're waiting for us. "

As they made our way through the tunnels, the veteran operator noticed that his beloved had her rifle raised, ready to shoot at anything that might come at them.

"Yuno, lower your weapon."

"But what if somebody comes up and opens fire, my love?"

"There's one out of many unspoken rules that our guys, USEC nuts, Scavs and others follow: No fighting in the safe zones. This tunnel system is one of them. So lower your weapon, Yuno. Calm down, but stay alert."

"Oh, okay."

As the couple got further into the tunnels, the pink one eventually began to ask the operator questions.

"Hey. Yukki. How did you end up here in wherever we are right now?"

"It's a really long story, and I'm not sure if I can properly sum it up so that it wouldn't take me too long, but here goes nothing."

* * *

 _"Come on, do you really have to mope around like this for the rest of your divine reign? You have god powers, you know."_

 _"What would be the point of it all? She died. She isn't here with me. A world, no, a universe without her is meaningless to me."_

 _"I know you're getting tired of having to hear me nag about making a new universe, Yukki. But I am not stopping until you pull that off. And besides, you can just find a new girl, ya know?"_

 _"I've heard that whole routine multiple times, Murmur. Let it rest. And I extremely doubt that any other girl can fill the Yuno-shaped hole in my heart that has been there ever since I won the damn game. And no, I'm not fucked up enough to go to another timeline and kill and replace the me from there just so I can be with her once more. I don't deserve to be with Yuno again. Especially when I have to pull the exact same shit she did."_

* * *

 _"It has been a year since the so-called 'Days of Horror' that scared and eventually ruined he city of Sakurami ended, with the families of former residents gathered today at the memorial marker on the site of the former City Hall. It has been estimated that at least 12,500 people were killed and 30,000 were injured during_ _the time period."_

" _Finding_ _out how and why this tragic period happened has been the subject of numerous investigations, dialogues and rumor-mongering. One thing is for certain, however - the then-wanted terrorist Uryuu Minene was involved in some of the incidents, including the bombing of the local middle school, which killed at least 150 students and employees, and injured hundreds more."_

 _"Meanwhile, at least 6,000 people have gone missing during the period and are still yet to be found, either dead or alive. Their families and friends still come here regularly to look for clues about their loved ones' fates and whereabouts, and demand that the government keep on looking for them instead of just ending the search and presuming them dead."_

* * *

 _"Sighs of relief and celebratory music reverberated across Ukraine and Russia as the two countries' leaders came to Geneva today to sign a treaty ending the war between the two countries, which many called 'Cain and Abel on steroids'. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with many senior officials, met with his Russian counterpart Alexei Navalny and discussed last-minute adjustments and additions to the treaty, mainly concerning the status of Ukrainian Crimea and Sevastopol, prisoners of war on both sides, trade and economic ties, upholding democracy and human rights, and the prosecution of war criminals on both sides, before finally agreeing to sign the treaty."_

 _"Also present at the signing were US Vice-President Joe Biden, standing in for President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, along with many other officials and leaders from the two warring countries, their allies and partners, and the United Nations."_

 _"The war added at least 81,000 military and civilian deaths to the toll inflicted on Ukraine during the separatist conflict in Donbass, which until the escalation happened in 2019, numbered at 13,000 total, with tens of thousands more wounded and injured. Meanwhile, Russian government sources say that a 'conservative estimate' of 73,000 servicemen and civilians died in the conflict with Ukraine, with at least 80,000 wounded, but other sources place them as high as 103,800 dead and 211,000 wounded, numbers the Russian government denies. An estimated 11,000,000 people in Ukraine and Russia have been left homeless, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. It has estimated that the war cost both countries a grand total of US$85 billion, with some estimates reaching the hundreds of billions."_

* * *

 _"With the construction of the international 'North Stream' main gas line, the government of the Russian Federation created_ _ _the Norvinsk Region -_ a new zone ___on the border of Leningrad and Murmansk regions, across the Finnish border separated by the Gulf of Finland.__

 _"Being the smallest in territory and population for the region, the administrative creation makes Norvinsk a gateway to the European mainland. It has been given 'Special Economic Zone' status, which brings in and secures new, huge foreign investments. Privileged taxation, focused position of business technologies, and attention of government, should make the Norvinsk region attractive for most foreign organizations. The 'Special Economic Zone' (SEZ) is often compared to Skolkovo - Russia's Silicon Valley - not scientifically, but in an economical and financial sense."_

 _"Two small, ultra-modern cities became the centers of the Norvinsk sector, each built in a relatively short amount of time. Tarkov City_ _ _boasts_ an advanced transport system, railroads, a port and comfortable roads because of its raw-material and resource manufacturing. The region's namesake, Norvinsk City, is the financial center of the SEZ and these two cities are connected by a speedway bridge that touches parts of the Finn Gulf."_

 _"Two years ago, an operative branch of the huge multinational organization TerraGroup was the focus of international scandal in Tarkov. TerraGroup Labs had initiated illegal activities in the territory of the Russian Federation, which were coincidentally covered-up by contacts in local governments and law enforcement, with officials from both the agricultural and extraction development industries involved. As of this report, TerraGroup, its subsidiaries, affiliates and employees has been charged with multiple cases of fraud, racketeering, corruption, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, rape, murder and other cases in multiple countries, including the United States, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with many other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies raided TerraGroup's offices and facilities across the country."_

 _"Many of said raids were made difficult by the fact that the on-site security - private military contractors from United Security (USEC), which through a series of deals, mergers and acquisitions has basically become TerraGroup's private army- was uncooperative and sometimes even actively resisted the activity of law enforcement, turning relatively simple raids into deadly battles, forcing federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to call for military aid courtesy of the National Guard."_

 _"Back in Russia, i_ _nvestigators and journalists found out a lot of covered deals and corrupt connections of representatives of TerraGroup with local government officials and owners of big businesses. Aside from criminal proceedings and administrative cases against high employees of TerraGroup's branch, Russian security and intelligence agencies also appear to have interest in their activity, suspecting subsidiaries of the company and it's local subcontractor (PLC 'Granit-M' and others) of subversive intentions in relation to the strategic interests of Russia and the prevailing world order. For example, FSB investigations found out that apparently the company TerraGroup Labs, through shell companies shows huge interest in territories of the region, where Russia's Ministry of Defense houses military units and other special military structures. Reasons for their interest in such old military objects is still unknown."_

 _"After half a year of law and order breaking down in the region, and geopolitical tensions rising to levels not seen since the end of the Russo-Ukrainian War, employees of TerraGroup Labs (or was it USEC?), with the backing of dubious elements within the UN peacekeepers, provoked an open military conflict between UN peacekeeping forces and the Russian National Guard. This escalated into an armed conflict, with peacekeepers, National Guardsmen and two Private Military Companies (PMC) taking sides."_

* * *

"Battle Encounter Assault Regiment? Really?"

"Nonsensical, I know. But hey, whatever floats the boat, I guess. "

"Anyway, if Russia has been enjoying what you say are friendly, if cautious relations with the US, the EU and NATO for the past few years or so, then why the hell would one misstep by any major player here would cause a nuclear war?"

"Fuck if I knew, but the thing is, a good chunk of TerraGroup's employees - and USEC's too - is from Western countries, including the other major nuclear powers. And then there's the UN peacekeeping force. If somebody worth giving a fuck about does something stupid, tensions may rise further past the breaking point. That's why we're here - to sniff out all the other shady bullshit TerraGroup is doing, get the evidence and escape from Tarkov in one piece."

Suddenly, the girl started to wobble a bit and stumble her way through the tunnels.

"Yuno, are you alright?"

"The whole thing makes me feel a bit dizzy, Yukki - can we stop and rest for a bit?"

"We're almost there, Yuno. Just hang on a little, okay?"

He then pulled out a fresh bottle of water from his bag and opened it. The girl then took it and drank from it before handing it back to the man helping her up.

Then, the girl saw two Russian men decked out in gear, clothing and weaponry similar to the ones her man was wearing and carrying approach them from the right. They all stopped once both pairs saw each other.

"Yukiteru! We were just about to go back out to look for you. Where'd you been, bro? And who is-"

"Turf war. Had to check it out. Found her shooting Scavs up, almost didn't recognize her. We got engaged by some USEC loons on the way out."

"Wait. She's-"

"Yes. She's the girl I kept telling you guys about. The one I loved more than anything. Now help me bring all this fucking shit we found, I'm carrying her to the hideout."

One of the men - who were apparently the operator's guys - then took the operator's bag off of him before answering him in English with a typical Russian accent.

"Whatever you say, Romeo."

The pinkette's lover laughed before replying to him in English, this time with a mocking British accent.

"Oh, of course. Shall we get to safety now, gentlemen?"

The other man then took the girl's bag off of her and led the group to the hideout.

"With pleasure."

Upon entering the hideout - a refurbished late Soviet-era bunker, the operator set his girlfriend down on a couch not far from the door, took off his helmet, balaclava, gear and rifle before he took the bottle of water he gave to the girl earlier from his bag and drank from it.

Once he was done, the operator then went back to his friends, talked a bit with them before going back to the girl with his two comrades in tow. One of the men said something to her in Russian, apparently not knowing that she only spoke Japanese and English. She could only give an awkward smile in response.

"Yukki, what'd he say?"

"He's introducing himself and my brother to the right. He's Anton, and this right here is Yuri."

"Oh. Hi. My name's Yu-"

"Yuno Gasai, welcome to Tarkov."


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Sexual content inbound. Be advised. Also, Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production._ _Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary was written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this.  
_

* * *

"Yuno Gasai, welcome to Tarkov."

"Enjoy your stay, honey."

Yukiteru then laughed, having delivered the previous line in a sarcastic tone after translating his friends' greeting to her.

"T-thank you..."

"Come on, Yuno. Don't be shy, relax. Feel at home, because this bunker here will be your home in Tarkov from now on. But maybe we should have a little tour of the place first. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, in fact, this is the best I've ever felt since... well, you know."

"That's the spirit! Now, why don't you come with me as I show you around?"

"S-sure."

He then turned to his comrades.

"Okay, I'll just show her around for a while. If Prapor comes before I'm done, tell him I'm busy."

"Got it. Just don't take too long."

The raven-haired blue-eyed man then took the girl's hand, and showed her around the place. As soon as they were out of earshot, the two other operators started talking.

"Is it just me or does she look like she's supposed to be in middle school?"

"It's not that uncommon, actually. I knew a few folks from high school who look as if they didn't age a single day since graduation."

"I know, but still. She looks like a fucking teenage girl. I don't wanna shit on Yukiteru's tastes, but I can see him being badgered by people should they see him and his girlfriend together."

"Yeah. Also, something tells me there's more to her than meets the eye."

"I know, right? She, uh, gives me crazy stalker vibes."

"Yeah. Reminds me of my first two years with Anna. She was fucking clingy back then, bro..."

Meanwhile, the Oriental operative could faintly hear his homies talk about his girlfriend and their initial impressions of her as he showed her every nook and cranny remotely worth writing home about.

"So what are they talking about, Yukki?"

 _You, my beloved crazy bitch._

"Business, probably. That and whatever crossed their minds."

"Oh. Anyway, can you, uh, accompany me to the bathroom? I think I need to use it now..."

"Sure thing, Yuno. We're done with the tour anyway. I'll be in the main quarters, so head there once you're done."

He then led his girlfriend to the bathroom. Once she was inside, he went to the main room, pulled up a chair to the central table, grabbed two bottles of vodka from the ice-filled cooler near the door, sat on the chair and began drinking from the first bottle.

The operative then pulled a few photographs and his smartphone from his pockets before he set them all on the table. He then took another sip from the bottle in his right hand before he began taking a good look at each and every one of them. As he was looking at the first photograph - a group photo of him and at least a dozen other BEAR operatives, his two comrades included, taken just before the beginning of the mess - while taking another sip from the bottle, he then pulled up his smartphone, connected it via Bluetooth to the speaker system in the room, and played some music before going back to walking down memory lane while drinking.

* * *

 _I hurt myself today_

 _To see if I still feel_

 _I focus on the pain_

 _The only thing that's real_

* * *

 _Tsar. Kolya. Batman. Vanya. Thor. Misha. Alex. Nikita. Fucking miss your asses, homes. I wish I could've done anything to save all of you. Send my regards to Karl, Doberman, Mom, Dad, Murmur and Deus up there. For now here's a toast to you boys._

* * *

 _The needle tears a hole_

 _The old familiar sting_

 _Try to kill it all away_

 _But I remember everything_

* * *

He then took a look at his high school class photo - something he never thought he'll have - and quickly scanned the faces that weren't his, wondering what had become of them, especially those he never heard from again after graduation. Afterwards, he then removed the dust from the next photo - a picture of him and his friends from middle school - and began reminiscing the short and bittersweet times they spent.

 _Mao. Hinata. Aru. Hell, Kousaka, you dipshit. I wish things never ended the way they did. I miss you guys._

And then he came to the last photo. It was the photo he used earlier in the day to confirm that he had been reunited with his beloved.

* * *

 _What have I become,_

 _my sweetest friend?_

 _Everyone I know_

 _Goes away in the end_

* * *

 _Not a time goes by without me wishing that this trial wedding shot of us - along with the sight, sound and sensation of seeing you walking down the aisle in a beautiful dress, the two of us sincerely exchanging vows, and finally sealing the deal with a loving kiss - could be a real one ever since you died, Yuno. Even until now, I die inside whenever I remember how I saw you die twice - both by your own hand. But now that you're here with me again - without having to kill yourself thrice - I'll fight tooth and nail to finally make it a reality. I promise you, we'll survive this bullshit together._

* * *

 _You could have it all_

 _My empire of dirt_

 _I will let you down_

 _I will make you hurt_

* * *

"Oh, Yukki..."

He turned around to see his girlfriend approach him before taking him in her arms.

 _How the hell did she he- oh yeah, right. I start thinking out loud everytime alcohol gets in my system._

He then motioned for her to grab another chair and sit beside him.

"Hey, Yuno, wanna taste? It's some good shit. Try it."

"No thanks. I don't think I can hold my liquor. What were you doing?"

"Nothing, just taking a walk down memory lane - a painful one. Which is why I have this fucker with me. And even then, it still fucking hurts to see the people you let into your life turn into nothing but memories."

 _I know that feeling, my love. I sure do._

"Yukki..."

"Hell, a few days ago, we lost two homies we've known for, like, five years. Multiple times before that, we also lost guys we were close with. At first you will want to cry, whine, and just pack up and go home. But once you have spent enough time in here, you will get used to all of it. That shit sucks, yes, but that's just how this shithole is, Yuno. Tarkov gives, Tarkov takes away. But hey, at least we're together again after a long damn time."

 _Long damn time for me, anyway. You just got here after winning that cursed game in your world after all._

* * *

 _I wear this crown of shit_

 _Upon my liar's chair_

 _Full of broken thoughts_

 _I cannot repair_

* * *

He was about to take another sip from his vodka bottle when his girlfriend suddenly grabbed the bottle, pulled it away from his hand, and set it on the table, angering him.

"Just what the fuck was that for, Yuno?"

"Yukki, you shouldn't be drinking now. You got a job to do, remember?"

"I know, Yuno, but we're basically on a break from work here!"

"Ugh. Just lay off the bottle for a while, okay? Here, let me help you ease the pain."

* * *

 _Beneath the stains of time_

 _The feelings disappear_

 _You are someone else_

 _I am still right here_

* * *

In one swift movement, the pinkette took the operator's head in her hands, pulled him closer to her, and planted her lips on his. The softness of his girlfriend's lips considerably calmed him down.

"Yuno..."

"I love you, Yukki. My heart is breaking just seeing you hurt like this. So please, let me help you deal with all the pain you have."

"Go ahead."

She once again pulled him closer to her and kissed him deeply, forcing him to reciprocate. Before long their tongues began clashing like men swordfighting as the young woman began taking her jacket off, and after a while the operator felt a fire burning in him as he felt his beloved hold his free hand. She then broke away to remove his gloves, revealing his rough, calloused hands, before removing her top, exposing her bare chest to the elements, and her man's gaze. Only then did she take his free hand and put it on her chest.

* * *

 _What have I become,_

 _my sweetest friend?_

 _Everyone I know_

 _Goes away in the end_

* * *

"So how are they, Yukki?"

"As big and soft as I remember. The only thing I don't ever recall is asking you if they cause you any discomfort whatsoever. Tits as big as yours put a strain on a woman's back, ya know."

"It's there, but it's not really that bad, and honestly, it doesn't bother me at all, since you appreciate them a lot."

She then stood up, went to one of the beds - which turned out to be Yukiteru's - and laid there. Yuno then gestured to the man to follow her.

As he approached her, she began taking off her boots, before she unbuckled the belt that held her trousers in place. Once the belt was off, she unbuttoned the trousers, and made sure to pull both the trousers and her underwear off, ensuring that she could be seen in all her nude glory.

"Now I get it. You wanna help me with this bullshit by... fucking you, am I right?"

* * *

 _And you could have it all_

 _My empire of dirt_

 _I will let you down_

 _I will make you hurt_

* * *

The pinkette puffed and pouted in annoyance as she rubbed her fingers against her slit to ensure that it was lubricated enough for a quick entry to start things up. Sensing he offended her, the young warrior tried to reach for her and apologize, only for the very young-looking woman to kiss him again and pull him towards her, unzipping his camouflage tactical pants all the while before he too was on the bed. Soon enough, she managed to release his erect manhood and began grinding her wet crotch against it.

The mercenary motioned for her to stop before getting the two of them in the right position. Their excitement prompted them to move as fast as humanly possible so they could continue with their business sooner.

"Yuno..."

"You can put it in me now if you want, my love. Just be gentle, okay?"

He was about to reach for his storage box and grab a condom but the pinkette stopped him in his tracks.

"No condoms, Yukki. I want to feel _you_ inside me without anything getting in the way."

"I can't knock you up in the midst of a warzone with access to proper medical care being near-impossible, Yuno. I gotta take precautions too."

* * *

 _If I could start again_

 _A million miles away_

* * *

"Yukki..."

The disappointed look on the pinkette's face told the young man everything he needed to know.

"Ah, fuck it. Brace yourself, I haven't done this whole shindig in a while."

The pinkette gnashed her teeth as she waited for her lover to connect with her once more, then gave out a moan of pleasure once he was finally inside of her.

"Aaaaahhh... Yukki and I... Connected as lovers once again... Feels... so... good... Aaaaahhhhh..."

It was just their luck that the last line of the song was loud enough to drown the girl's initial moan. The two went at it for what felt like eons - in actuality around half an hour - before the inevitable release of pent-up emotions that came with the climax.

* * *

 _I would keep myself_

 _I would find a way_

* * *

Some time later, someone knocked on the bunker's main door. It was followed by a somewhat aged, deep, and rough voice calling for them.

"Open up, boys. It's me."

The two other operators then opened the door to reveal a balding, graying, mustachioed middle-aged officer type dressed in olive green fatigues under a digital camouflage overcoat wielding an AK that looked as if he looted it from a museum had it not had a bunch of attachments on it. This was the man they called Prapor.

"So, how have you boys been since we last met?"

"Well, we, uh, got into a few scuffles a short while back. Got us some pretty good shit too."

"I can see. Real good stuff you got there. By the way, where's Yukiteru?"

 _Getting laid with his long-lost girlfriend, old man._

The young mercenary then appeared from behind his comrades, with his beloved in tow.

"I'm here. What's up, pops?"

"Speak of the devil. I heard you took a detour after that last raid. Everybody needs a little time to take a break and just breathe the air in, yes?"

"Yeah. I've been having many of 'em lately. Feels fucking good to stop and relax every once in a while, you know?"

And then he noticed the pink-haired feminine figure in loose-fitting BEAR gear standing alongside the young operator.

"Last I remember, only the tourists have women - quite a few of them Japanese - operating for them. So, who's she? Your sister?"

"Her? Oh, she's my girlfriend."

As soon as that last word left his lips, the older man burst into hearty laughter.

"Girlfriend? Son, you may look like somebody the ladies back home would go crazy for, but this is just ridiculous."

 _I mean, seriously, son? She looks like she's supposed to be in middle school!_

Had the girl understood what the officer said, she would have raised an eyebrow.

"If you only knew, pops... Anyway, I haven't properly introduced you yet."

The old war horse gave the very young-looking woman a skeptical look as she shyly waved him hello.

"Save it for later. Does she speak Russian? English? Any other language I know? Because I sure as hell don't speak Japanese."

"Not yet, but I will teach her somewhere down the line. I do recall her English being nearly indistinguishable from an American's though."

 _Bro, she speaks English? Why didn't you fucking tell us?_

"Fair enough. Anyway, after that last job at the shoreline, I got a call from my friends - they say they were very damn pleased with what you did, and they definitely want some more. More profit in it for you, too, as well as some extra gear, so go on, keep doing good things for good people. They are asking for half-masks, you know, those that Scavs hide their faces with. No idea what they need them for, probably to make a point or something like that. However, this time you boys should do it silently, so they won't even know what killed them. Which of course means that you better have suppressors equipped for this job. I'm pretty sure you boys have more than a few of them now."

"We can handle it. Anything else?"

"Now that you mention it, yes, there's something else. I got a note from a runner, he says it's from Peacekeeper, and he wants me to deliver it to you."

 _Lazy fucking bastard._

"Peacekeeper? Was it about the stuff he sold us a week ago?"

"No, it's not. It's a job. You boys might need to put on UNTAR gear for this one, the details are in the note. Anyway, I have to go now, I got some other shit to do. Take care now, boys. And Yukiteru, make sure that your girlfriend over there doesn't jeopardize your overall mission. In my experience, women in combat are always a pain in the ass to handle. I'll be seeing you soon, boys."

"Sure, pops. Take care out there."

As soon as the old war horse was out of sight, the door was closed again, and the people in the bunker then moved to a large table with maps, pens, compasses, phones, radios, a pair of working laptops and a bunch of satellite navigation gear, ostensibly to plan their next move.

"Who's the old man, Yukki? Sounds like you've known each other for quite a while now."

"Oh, Prapor? Well, we know him, alright, and you should. We get a very good chunk of our gear from him. He's a supply officer with the Russian National Guard, which means we get to buy standard-issue gear fresh from the armories. Not that the National Guard would mind, anyway - BEAR is an unofficial front for the Russian government, after all."

One of the other operators - the dark brown-haired clean-shaven guy who the girl knew as Anton - spoke out, with the note in his hand.

"Hey, listen. This is what Peacekeeper wants to say."

 _Our team always works for the good of the people, or at least we try to make it look so. Blue helmets peacefully deliver relief supplies to this region, but sometimes, attacks happen on us as well. That's what happened to two Ural trucks that were carrying UN-marked crates. We wouldn't be unofficially very upset if not for the sensitivity of the cargo, because this time those crates contained a little help not only for the people but also for USEC and its operatives. You understand that we cannot allow this bullshit to cast a shadow on the United Nations peacekeepers' reputation. Put on a UN uniform (UN helmet, MF-UN body armor, or failing that, just put on some UN patches or insignia on your gear, I'm pretty sure you've found or fabricated some) and teach these local scum a lesson. Also, locate the spot where trucks were attacked, mark them with beacons, and bring me several MRE ration packs so I could present them as evidence, just in case. Try to get some for yourselves too, but make sure that there's still enough of them in the crates to give to the people once we retrieve the damn trucks. Those are supposed to be humanitarian supplies, after all.  
_

 _P.S. It would be a good idea to do this job at night, when the local thugs are sleepy. And as much as possible, use suppressed weapons - they won't know what got 'em. I'm very sure that you have acquired some nighttime optics and suppressors by now, and word on the grapevine is that Prapor also wants you to pop some Scav heads silently. Good luck and Godspeed, boys._

 _-Peacekeeper_

"Gotta love the bloody Blue Helmets. Always coming in to fix everything."

"For USEC, or at least that's the impression I get from Peacekeeper. Not so much for the locals still here."

 _Or those in their refugee camps, despite the High Commissioner for Refugees pressing them hard on it._

"Now, now, most of UNTAR's troops believe in their mission, if our previous encounters with them were any indication. Peacekeeper and his guys are just more into making money than anything. He hangs out with Skier a lot. You know how the guy is."

"Fair enough. Anyway, I managed to intercept some Scav radio traffic, and I overheard them talking about a white truck with goodies somewhere around the north side of the health resort - most likely one of the UN trucks Peacekeeper was talking about. They were still trying to look for the other one when the conversation ended."

"Good job, Yuri. So we now have a sure place to start looking for the first truck. Problem is, the health resort has become a warehouse and rest stop for some Scavs there. Which is also part of why we're going in - to thin out their ranks."

"Okay, so we're headed back to the shoreline tonight to fuck a bunch of Scavs up with suppressed weapons and decked out in UN gear, and fix Peacekeeper's mess for him. Now the question is, what are the arrangements for insertion and extraction? Where the fuck do we get in and out?"

"We'll just follow the tunnel system here to the partially blocked tunnel there - we can just climb over the rubble blocking the way. As for the extraction point, we can either get out the way we came in, take the boat at the pier and drop off at the river entrance to the tunnel system, or take the road to Customs and enter the tunnel system from there. If you have a better alternative, speak now."

"Maybe we can try the scenic route and enter from the hills facing downtown - the area near the tunnel is crawling with Scavs. Sure, the village we'll end up in will also be Scav turf, but according to the communications I intercepted earlier most of them have gone looking for the other UN truck, and left a skeleton crew behind. Or we can get in from the hills north of the drone we found a while back and leave town through the rock passage east of it. The nearby bunker is bound to be manned by Scavs, so we should be prepared to immediately engage them upon insertion. And besides, it's the closest insertion point to the health resort."

Finally, the girl spoke out, with the Russian operatives shocked by her command of the English language. Her man had been translating the entire conversation for her the entire time.

"Okay. So it's the northern route then. It's only 2:18pm, so... anybody wants to eat lunch? I'm starving, and the snacks we found won't cut."

The two operators with them were still trying to get over the shock as they tried to answer her question properly.

"There's some... leftover tuna, canned sardines, beef jerky and pulled pork in the refrigerator - don't worry, they're all edible - some big bottles of drinking water nearby along with some plastic cups on top of the refrigerator, beside those are two loaves of bread, and there's some steamed corn in the pot on the stove. There's also a bunch of cola, green tea and energy drink cans in the freezer."

"Now that you mentioned it, yeah. Let's eat, I only ate a pack of crackers for breakfast."

And so the three amigos and the pinkette gathered around the other table and ate lunch together.

"Shit, I almost forgot something."

"What is it, Yukiteru?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production._ _Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content may not accurately reflect actual gameplay experience, and is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

"Shit, I almost forgot something."

"What is it, Yukiteru?"

Everyone then turned to Yukki, awaiting what he was going to say next.

"Do you boys still have those signal jammers?"

"Yeah, what's with the- oh, it's about those antennas the Mechanic wants suppressed, isn't it?"

"That's right. We've gotta do that job now, he sent me a message a while ago, asking if we'd put them in place already. Told him we're working on it."

"Was he pissed?"

"Not really. He just wants the job to be done as soon as possible - you know him, he's always busy."

Yuno just sat there and continued with her makeshift meal as the three operators continued discussing their plans for tonight. Despite Yukki's info dump during the trip to the hideout, she still had quite a lot of questions lingering in her head, chief among them being how did she get here in the first place.

"Are the batteries charged, Anton? It's gonna suck when our nighttime optics run out of power in the field."

"They're at around 65% right now, so they should be ready by sunset. I tested our optics and flashlights too, just to make sure."

"Alright. So far, our stashed suppressors work fine, and should we ever need them, our stash of subsonic ammo is more than enough. Oh, I almost forgot. How's the wound, Yuri?"

The operator visibly grimaced when he replaced the bandages and disinfected the wound again, but not a hint of pain showed in his reply.

"It's fine, nothing I can't handle. Don't worry, I can still fight."

"At the very least we should pay the Therapist a visit and have her or her team take a look at it."

"Not a bad idea, honestly. We still have time, right?"

The other two operators looked at their smart wristwatches and nodded in agreement.

"Alright. What about our power supply? How's the generator doing? Are our fuel reserves enough for the next week or so? Are the solar panels and battery banks in good condition?"

"Wait, you guys have solar panels?"

Yuno's inquiry was ignored as Anton reported the state of the hideout's power supply.

"The generator's chugging along well so far, but I think we might have to hang around the gas stations more often and even start siphoning any remaining fuel from the tankers scattered all over town - we only have enough generator fuel for three days at the most. However, the solar panels are fine, and the battery banks have enough power in them to last for around week and a half - and that's counting maximum power consumption. Still haven't contacted the Mechanic about getting wind turbines, though, which fucking sucks because the wind's been quite strong lately."

"Siphon fuel? With what? Bro, we can buy fuel from Jaeger now."

"Yeah, but do we always have to? Not all of our money goes to fuel, though."

"Fair enough. Not to mention the stuff he wants us to pull... Man, I had to run to the Therapist immediately after his whole fucked-up flashbang job!"

Yuno then decided to interject once more, hoping that this time she gets everyone's attention.

"What flashbang job? Who's Jaeger? What's everybody talking about?"

"Oh _fuck_ , I forgot Yuno's here. Anyway, Jaeger's one of the people we buy from and sell to around these parts, same with Prapor. He mainly sells hunting weapons, gear and ammunition, but just recently, he also began selling us supplies and building materials for the hideout, just like what Yuri said earlier."

"Jaeger was a forest ranger, tasked with protecting the woods from poachers, illegal loggers and the like. Then he got reassigned as the security chief of the Factory, and he was there when TerraGroup first arrived. He then went back to his traditional hunting grounds, occasionally dropping by the health resort on the shoreline to relax for a bit. And then TerraGroup, escorted by USEC goons, came once again to ruin everybody's day."

"I get his background now, but what about the flashbang job of his that you guys are pissed about?"

"He wanted us to kill two guys - can't exactly remember if they should be PMCs or Scavs, probably PMCs - while we're blinded by flashbangs. Not exactly an easy task, is it?"

Yuno sensed the understatement in Yukki's voice when he described what Jaeger had them do, and quickly nodded in agreement.

"Ugh. Can't imagine having to kill two people while being blinded. Any other crazy stuff he had you guys do for him?"

The three veteran operators took a while recollecting their thoughts before they started speaking.

"Well, there was this one time where we had to kill some Scavs in the woods without any body armor - to be fair, protection comes at a loss to mobility and agility - which was easy enough for experienced operators like us."

"Then he had us kill ten Scavs at night from 2100H-0300H without nighttime optics or thermal sights. I don't remember him saying anything against bringing flashlights, however, but since bright lights mess up natural night vision, we decided against bringing any in..."

"...and brought in our NVGs anyway."

"Did he know you brought any in?"

"No, he couldn't have. He didn't say anything about not bringing them out anyway, only that we had to kill the Scavs without using them. Which we pulled off without a hitch."

"We had to put them back on once a bunch of rogue BEARs and the Scavs' drug-addled buddies decided to crash the party, however. It felt like Christmas coming early, as we managed to bag some real good shit from all the dead guys."

"Sounds reasonable enough. I wanna hear the really crazy stuff though, I'm sure he had you do them before the 'flashbang job' you guys were ranting about."

 _Oh, where do we begin?_

"The first crazy job he had us do was spend 5 minutes in the field... while dehydrated."

"Last time we were that dehydrated, we almost didn't make it into BEAR's selection process! And it's been like, what, five or six years since then!"

"Yeah. The ordeal got to the point where we were ready to use some... crazy stuff to help us through, but by the time we decided to use it, it has been more than half an hour into the job."

"More than half an hour?"

Yuno did not know whether to be amazed or horrified by the fact that Yukki and his boys had to endure being dehydrated for more than half an hour without even trying to reach for a water bottle. She knew she wouldn't last even a single minute of dehydration without going for a glass of water, let alone the five minutes Jaeger asked of the mercenaries.

"Yeah, and we didn't drink anything until we made it to the exfiltration point. Jaeger met us there and guided us back to his spot, where he gave us some cash and some big bottles of drinking water. He said he didn't believe that we lasted much longer than the time period he specified, and at the same time, he was impressed with how we managed pull our asses through it before giving us the cash and extra water."

And then, somebody knocked on the hideout door again.

"Alright, cover me, guys. I'm gonna go answer the door."

As Anton grabbed his Beretta sidearm and went for the door, Yukki unholstered his MP-443 while Yuri readied his Kalashnikov carbine after unholstering his Stechkin automatic pistol and handing it to Yuno, reminding her man to train her on it at the firing range sometime in the future. The three then positioned themselves near the door so they could effectively provide overwatch on Anton.

"Who is it?"

Nobody responded, but the knocking continued.

"I said, who is it?!"

There was still no response, so Anton raised his sidearm, moved to the door and quickly opened it.

"Boo!"

Soon enough, laughter erupted from outside the hideout as Anton was greeted by a bunch of fully-geared and heavily armed BEAR operators. Yukki and Yuri also started to laugh, leaving Yuno dazed and confused about what's happening.

"Hah! You should've seen the look on your face, Foxhound, it was _priceless!"_

"GOBLIN, YOU CRAZY MOTHERFUCKER! I WAS ALMOST READY TO BLAST YOUR FUCKING FACE!"

Anton's other two comrades then moved to the door to greet their old friends, with Yuno still confused about what the hell is going on.

"Hahahahahaha! You all look like hammered shit down here, Snowman! Did you just come back from a fight or something?"

"Yeah, two of them, actually. Come in and take a seat over there, guys. I'm gonna go and get y'all some drinks and stuff to eat - y'all don't look much better yourselves."

At least seven BEAR operators entered the bunker upon Yukki's invitation.

"Well, we did get ourselves into quite a scuffle in the - oh, I forgot, have you guys been to the Reserve Base yet? It's got a lot of untouched good shit all over the place, some pretty good spots, and a bunch of actually functioning heavy MGs and automatic grenade launchers."

"And _a lot_ of fucking Scavs. Heard there was even a boss-type fucker leading a crew in there. Those fucking raiders roam the joint too."

"Boss-type? Leading a crew? Like the Dealmaker and his boys in Customs?"

 _Speaking of the Dealmaker, it seems that we never get to engage him and his boys in combat whenevr we're in Customs - oh well, guess even his big-ass guards think they're no match for us._

"Yeah, and we heard that they were rocking some pretty cool shit. Hell, some say that the boss guy somehow managed to pull one of those fancy 12.7mm FSB rifles from God knows where."

 _Guess I might have to ask Prapor a few questions after we're done._

"We'll probably hit the base after we get shit done at the shoreline. Gotta cozy up to the right people, ya know?"

As the now-large gathering of BEAR operators began discussing among themselves in Russian, one of the new arrivals suddenly noticed Yuno standing at the dinner table staring blankly at Yukki.

"I haven't hit a blunt in two days, and I just got out of a hangover this morning, so why am I seeing something pink over there?"

"That's no thing, Pennywise, that's a girl with pink hair!"

"Wait, _what?_ "

Soon enough, the rest of the new arrivals turned their eyes to Yuno while Yukki and company just kept talking.

"Ooh, an Oriental one! And in BEAR gear too! Who's this pretty lovely princess?"

All the gazes towards her made Yuno extremely nervous, which didn't escape Yukki's gaze. He immediately moved to her side and held her right hand in his left as he began to introduce her to his other comrades.

"What the actual fuck? Snowman, you know this chick?"

 _Oh, I know her, alright. Perhaps a bit too much._

"She's my girlfriend."

Like Prapor earlier, the new arrivals started laughing when they heard what Yukki said about Yuno, much to Anton and Yuri's amusement.

"You, Snowman, of all people, have a girlfriend? You're shitting me, right? Right?"

"And here I thought me being happily married was weird enough for you boys."

"Alright! Pack it up, boys! Somebody's already won the damn game!"

 _Hah! Looks like somebody wasn't listening when I was telling them about my youth._

"Hey Brown Bear, Foxhound, how long have you known about this?"

"Dude, have you forgotten all the times he kept rambling about some crazy pink-haired chick everytime we got wasted? Because she's the girl Snowman's standing beside right now!"

"Trust me, bro, even we couldn't believe at first that she's _that_ girl when we first saw her!"

One by one, the guests began eyeing Yuno from the top of her head to the boots Yukki made her wear, which only made Yuno even more nervous.

"You're kidding me, right? I mean, look at her! She looks like a middle schooler with unusually big tits for her age! Tell me, Snowman, are you a fucking pedophile or something?"

 _Note to self - ask Ragman if he at least knows anybody who has any bras big enough for Yuno's boobs to fit in. Because her current one looks like it's about to break._

"Fuck you, T-Rex, she's the same age as I am! She just, uh, ages very slowly!"

Yuno just nodded hurriedly in agreement despite not understanding a single word Yukki and his comrade said.

 _You'd say I was high if I told you the truth, bro._

Yukki then fumbled around his pockets for a bit before producing some documents - which Yuno immediately recognized.

"Wait, aren't those... my birth, adoption and school records? Where'd you get those, my love?"

"I dunno, they just appeared on my old apartment's doorstep some years back before I first came to Russia. The note with it said that I might need them someday, so I should keep them safe. Never thought I had to pull them out here of all places, though."

Yukki then motioned for everyone to have a seat as he began introducing Yuno and the newcomers to each other, translating her records to Russian when needed.

"See? Told you she's the same age as me."

 _Perfectly legal, motherfucker. Now that I think about it, she might have been among those the government had presumed dead back home... Which would the media raise a ton of questions when we get back from Russia._

"Hah! So you're Yuno, eh? As in the Roman goddess of marriage, the wife of Jupiter and part of the Capitoline Triad? Shit, I need a blunt, bro, my mind's starting to act up."

"Ignore that fucking clown, he just wants to laze around and smoke some joints. By the way, where'd she get that extra BEAR gear from, Snowman? Raid loot? A stick up? Ragman?"

"She's actually wearing my original BEAR gear. These duds, however, are from Ragman. Hell of a discount too, considering what his boys had to go through to get them brand new."

"Huh, so Ragman sells BEAR gear now. Thought our regular clothes would be more up Prapor's alley, since they're basically National Guard standard-issue."

"Well, that's just how things are. Ragman is an apparel merchant, after all."

"An apparel merchant that sells chest rigs, body armor, and tactical headsets, you mean."

Suddenly, a phone rang from within the bunker. Yuri hurriedly went to the intelligence station, and then found that the ringing came from one of the smartphones connected to the PC they built out of scavenged parts.

"Yooouuu wiilllll diiiiieee iiiinnnn seeeveeeennn daaaayyyyyysssss."

"DON'T BE A JINX, JOKER!"

Yuri then motioned for everyone to keep quiet.

"Brown Bear here. Who's this?"

Everyone just stared at Yuri as he continued to converse with whoever was on the phone. When he began describing his recent injuries, only Yuno didn't realize who he was talking to.

And then Yuri motioned for Yukki to come to the phone.

"What is it?"

"It's the Therapist. She wants to talk to you. Also, I've already scheduled a house call for my gunshot wound. Thought I should let you know."

Yukki then picked up the phone and began talking to the good doctor.

"Snowman speaking. What can I do for you, Doc?"

"Oh, hello there, young man. Glad to find out you're alright. I would like to say my thanks for your assistance with the vans a few days ago. We were just in time, since even these Scavs didn't have time to pull them apart. While researching the consequences of the tunnel collapse, we've run across a Terragroup executive by the name of, hmm, let me see... Henrik Gelandewagen."

"Gelandewagen? What about him?"

Everyone was too busy talking to notice Yuno move towards the bunker's intelligence station and stand behind Yukki in an attempt to eavesdrop on his conversation with the Therapist. Unfortunately for her, Yukki has yet to teach her the Russian language.

"Well, it appears that many of the company's top managers perished there while trying to evacuate. I'm aware that medical research was one of the top priorities for the company, and I'm almost sure, that they had no time to evacuate its data and materials due to lack of time. Whatever they were doing, I think it can turn out to be very valuable, both for us and for medical science in general. It can earn us a ticket from Tarkov, even more than one."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I've regularly met up with certain Terragroup employees to discuss health care issues, so I was pretty familiar with some of their works. One of my acquaintances, who, by the way, directly reported to that deceased Gelandewagen as he was under his management, used to live in the health resort building. I heard Prapor wanted you to help clean up the surroundings a bit."

"Ah, so you know. Yeah, and we have to get some stuff for Peacekeeper too. Where do you want us to go? We'll be heading into the resort anyway.'

"Let me look it up... here it is, room 306. Inspect it for anything that could possibly be left behind. I'm sure that you've managed to find the key for it in the time since I last heard from you."

"We did, we found one in a dead Scav's pockets somewhere around the collapsed tunnel, and we bought another copy off the black market."

"Good. Let me know if you've managed to find anything. We could be onto something of major significance here."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Nothing. I have some other matters to attend to, so contact me again once the job's done. Good luck, young man. God be with you."

"Same here, Doc. Take care of yourself over there."

Once he hung up the phone, Yukki then felt something soft pressing against his back. Before he knew it, he was in Yuno's embrace once more.

"Yukki~"

"What is it?"

"Who were you talking to on the phone earlier?"

"Oh, the Therapist. She works at the city hospital as the head of the trauma care department. She also provides us medical care and supplies, food, drinks, maps, keys and containers for all the shit we've looted. For the right amount of cash, of course. And before you get any ideas, she's around the same age as Prapor - you've seen him, haven't you? - and she's too busy upholding the Hippocratic Oath to even think of doing something else other than sell us stuff. I did hear that she has a family outside though."

"Oh, okay. Wait, what do you mean, 'before you get any ideas'? Do you think that I would be jealous of her?"

"Just making sure, I guess."

Yuno was about to kiss Yukki when Anton came to ask about what the Therapist said.

"Well, it looks like I interrupted another intimate moment between you two, so I hope you don't mind if I ask what'd Therapist say..."

"No big deal, but she did say that she had something new for us to do for her."

"What is it, then?"

"Long story short, she wants us to stop by the health resort and check room 306 for anything significant - she says someone she knows who worked for TerraGroup roomed there and might have left behind some important shit. She even went as far to say that it could even be a ticket out of this godforsaken shithole."

"Hmm, interesting."

Anton then went back to Yuri and the other BEAR guys to talk about the phone call Yukki had with the Therapist, while Yuno gave Yukki a pout of disappointment as he gently pried himself out of her embrace and went to the fridge to get himself and Yuno some ice-cold TarCola... and some cans of green tea along with packs of crackers and cans of tuna for his comrades.

He then gave Yuno a quick peck on the lips before handing her the cola can in his left hand and continued towards the BEAR operators gathered in the living room. This move did not go unnoticed.

"Smooth move, player!"

"Teach me, Sensei!"

"Hey, Snowman, can I have a kiss and a cola too?"

"Get your own, buddy! And this spot's taken!"

Laughter and swooning soon filled the bunker once more as the gathering of BEAR operators swapped stories and jokes, all while Yuno watched her beloved enjoy himself from the sidelines, with a sad smile on her face. She was having difficulty remembering when she last saw Yukki smile so brightly.

"And that's why you do NOT try to act like Rambo against those pesky little raiders!"

 _I wish I could see you smile like that more often, my love. That's why I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect you._

"Hey, Snowman. Don't leave your girlfriend out of the fun like that."

 _Shit._


	7. Chapter 7

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production. Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content may not accurately reflect actual gameplay experience, and is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

"Hey, Snowman. Don't leave your girlfriend out of the fun like that."

 _Shit._

With a slight sense of guilt in his heart, Yukki turned to where Yuno was, ostensibly to ask her to join them, but she was nowhere to be found. As he sadly sighed, someone on his right poked him in the cheek - there wasn't anyone there before. Then, as he turned around to see who poked him, he felt a wonderful sensation suddenly hit his lips.

"Looks like you're not the only smooth operator in town, Snowman!"

Yuno just stole a kiss from him, forcing him to reply with a kiss of his own. Laughter and cheers filled the bunker once again.

"Ooh, player, player!"

"And that's how they do it in Japan, boys!"

Soon enough, the conversation went back to everyone in the bunker, this time including Yuno, trading stories and jokes between thenselves. There were times when Yukki had to stop talking for a while because Yuno kept teasing him, often by rubbing her head on his side. The rest of the gathered BEAR operators nearly had difficulty breathing due to heavy laughter, especially when the bunker guests began telling embarassing tales from childhood to early adulthood.

And soon enough, the discussion slowly turned serious as the operators started to discuss the current state of affairs in the region, with Yukki and company also planning their next move.

"So you were saying that the train out of the Reserve Base took too long to start once you guys were aboard?"

"Yes, about five minutes, actually. Felt like days, even - we came under fire from those fucking raiders while we were waiting for the train to leave. Which sucked, because they looked like they were carrying some serious firepower with them."

"Hell, I even saw one open up on us with a pimped-out FAL from the station! And it might have sold for a fortune, too!"

"Enough about the Reserve Base, Pennywise. How about you and your boys, Foxhound? What have you planned for tonight?"

"Let's see... So far, Prapor wants us to kill some Scavs at the shoreline with suppressed weapons, and bring back at least ten half-mask bandanas as proof. Peacekeeper wants us to find two UN aid trucks, mark their positions with beacons and give him at least five MRE packs from them as proof, and kill some more Scavs."

"While dressed as UN peacekeepers too. Lucky for us, we've managed to acquire some UNTAR patches and insgnia for us to put on our gear, as UNTAR helmets don't have mounting brackets for our night vision goggles."

"Meanwhile, the Mechanic wants us to place jammers on the antennas we marked for him a while back, plus the radio tower, and lastly, the Therapist wants us to get inside the health resort and check room 306 for anything important - she said someone she knew roomed in there, and might have left behind critical data on TerraGroup's medical research."

"So far, we know that there's one UN truck to the north of the resort, thanks to Scav radio intercepts, and that the Scavs there are currently looking for the other one."

"Alright, good work on tapping into the fuckers' comms, now here's some stuff we found out on the way here. First, we overheard some Scavs in the Reserve Base talking about a supply truck loaded with relief supplies stuck somewhere on the road to Customs, and that they should check it out should they ever get out. This has to be the other UN truck Peacekeeper wants you to find for him."

"Second, we also heard that there was going to be a deal between two rival Scav gangs at the shoreline tonight - to be exact, they would make the deal at the resort at around 8:30pm - and that basically every Scav on the shoreline would be there. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for you guys to clean house."

"And lastly, we found this text message - yes, we got this phone from a dead raider, lucky for us he forgot to activate the lock screen - which tells his group to meet up with another group of raiders on the shoreline at around 9pm, and then head to the resort to find and dispose of any information which could land TerraGroup in deeper shit. It's 6:45pm right now, so you guys have quite some time to relax and prepare for action."

"Well, thanks for the heads up, Goblin."

"Least we can do to help out, that fight at the Reserve Base took a lot out of us."

"Yeah, you boys look like you need a lot of rest. Anyway, we'll have to take our leave now, we'll have to prepare our gear for later."

"Alright, take your time. Are you coming with them, Brown Bear?"

"I want to, but I guess I'll be the night watchman for today. And besides, I have to keep you guys company too."

As the mood in the bunker became lively again, Anton, Yukki and Yuno went back to the main table and began planning for tonight once more.

"So, according to Goblin and crew, the second UN truck is somewhere on the road to Customs, which would make it our exit point. Then there's the Scav gathering at the resort at 8:30pm, and lastly, we could find ourselves fighting raiders in and around the resort - and potentially miss out on whatever the Therapist wants us to find for her. Any ideas?"

"We could probably try to disrupt the Scav deal, have everyone shoot at each other, and pick off the leftovers once the shooting stops. Or we could try and goad the raiders into coming in earlier, have them disrupt the deal, and shoot everyone that isn't us. Either way, we would most likely be able ro do the rest of our current tasks with relatively light opposition. Now, the question is: Do we have enough ammo and grenades?"

"No, unless we get the Scavs to blow each other's heads off, we wouldn't have enough ammo in our rigs, pockets and bags to kill 'em all. And then there's the raider group coming too."

"So we dupe the raiders into coming early, then. How do we do it, though?"

"Maybe we could contact a hacker from outside, have him try and gain access to the raiders' communications, and then get our message sent to them. We do have an excess of digital coin, after all."

"Sounds like a plan. It's missing one thing though: Where do we go in?"

"We'll enter from the north, near the rock bunker, and from there we make our way to the resort."

"Good enough. Alright, it's time to get ready. If you want to help her with her guns, now would be the time to take her to the shooting range."

Anton then went back to the living room, dead raider's phone in hand, to talk about what else was on it that might be of use to them. Yuri then went to the intelligence station to use the PC, presumably to try and solicit the services of a hacker from outside the region.

Meanwhile, the lovers gathered the guns and ammo they looted earlier in the day and went to the firing range.

"Yukki, what's the headset for? Isn't that supposed to be connected to some sort of radio or something?"

"Yeah, it is, but it also serves as hearing protection - gunshots and explosions are loud, Yuno. Even then, we had to wear earpieces underneath the headset to further mitigate the damage it does to our eardrums. Now let me put this headset on you for a sec..."

After a few more seconds of adjusting the headset to fit Yuno's head perfectly, he then handed her his MP-443, gave her a brief description of the gun, how it worked and what to do should it malfunction in the field, and after that, a basic introduction to gun safety - which turned out to be unnecessary, as she kept the pistol pointed downward and kept her finger on the trigger guard.

"Well then. Load the mag into the pistol, relax, take a few deep breaths, and steady your aim. If you're sure you're ready, feel free to take the safety off and try hitting that target there."

"Got it, love."

 _Breathe in, breath out, calm down, Yukki's watching... I have to nail the targets, I have to impress Yukki..._

The door to the shooting range might have been closed, but the shots from the pistol were still loud enough to be heard in the living room.

"What was that?"

"It's Snowman. He's giving his girlfriend range time, to get her acquainted with our current arsenal. But from what we've heard from him earlier, it sounds as if she doesn't need much time at the range to turn her into a competent shooter."

"Shooter? Sure. An operator on our level? That might take around a year at best."

"Not if she's motivated by her... deep love for Snowman, that is. You guys might have seen that earlier."

"You know what they say, there's only a handful of forces more powerful than love."

Not a few seconds passed after Yuri ended his sentence when the muffled sounds of a Kalashnikov carbine firing came from the shooting range.

"Not bad, Yuno. Now put the selector switch on full-auto, and try to get a five round burst on that target to the right."

Five rounds left the gun, and five rounds hit the designated target, much to Yuno's relief and Yukki's delight.

"Good shot. Now try hitting the target at the back. Five round burst, of course."

Five more rounds left the gun and hit the furthermost target from them. Wanting to prove that it was no fluke, Yuno fired yet another five-round burst at the target, and sure enough, they all hit perfectly.

"You didn't have to do that, Yuno, but nonetheless, good job!"

"Aww, thank you, darling..."

The veteran operator then gave Yuno a pat to the head as a sign of acknowledgment, and told her to unload her weapons and follow him as they left the shooting range and headed for the stash. On the way there, Yuri motioned Yukki to come over to the intelligence station.

"What is it?"

"Turns out we won't need to spend much of our coin. Long story short, an old friend from my days in the army who now breaks into secure chats after studying computer programming in university just gave me access to the raiders' encrypted messaging system, along with a bunch of contact information for some people who might be connected to them. He didn't ask for much, as he moonlights as a programmer in some big-shot company in Saint Petersburg - good thing it's not tied to any known TerraGroup front or subsidiary - and he only needed enough coin to buy his wife a new diamond ring."

"Ain't that a bit too much?"

"No, at least not in here - I've seen black market trades that charged more coin than the ring my friend wanted to buy."

"Fair enough. Give him my thanks. Also, maybe you should rest - your wound's still healing, and the Therapist has yet to contact us about a house call."

Yuri just shrugged it off and then pointed at the bunker guests as he spoke.

"Nah, I can manage, and besides, somebody has to babysit this bunch of clowns."

Yukki couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of their comrades goofing around like adolescent boys bored out of their minds.

"Alright. Have fun laughing at these wackos, bro."

"Yeah, sure."

Yuri then went back to the PC and began cooking up a fake update for the raiders so they could come to the resort at the same time as the Scav convention, while Yukki and Yuno came upon Anton as he was in the middle of packing up and preparing everything he needs for tonight's raid.

"Thought you'd be bringing in the Vintorez tonight."

"Nah, I don't feel like bringing it out today. I do feel like going with THIS, though."

Yukki and Yuno's eyes then turned towards the weapon in Anton's hands. It was no ordinary Kalashnikov-pattern rifle, and it wasn't just because it had an assault scope with a backup iron sight mounted on the top rail, a combination foregrip/bipod mounted on the handguard's bottom rail, a laser suite mounted on the side, and it was fed from a big drum magazine.

"Holy shit. Where'd you get that fancy-ass machine gun?"

"We got this earlier in the day, bro! Didn't you notice?"

"Now that I think about it, yeah, I didn't. How is it working out for you? How does it feel, especially with that drum mag?"

"So far, it works, and it's not as heavy as I initially thought it was, but maybe I'm quite used to carrying big guns - haven't I told you that I used to be a machine gunner in the army yet?"

"Yukki, what's so special about that rifle? You've been eyeing it for a while now."

"That's no rifle, Yuno. That's the RPK-16 light machine gun you're looking at."

"That's a machine gun? I thought they were supposed to be bigger, and fed from belts or something."

"Alright, enough gun talk, lovebirds. Get your guns and gear ready, it's almost time to head out."

As Yuno curiously looked on, Yukki then went to his portion of the stash and began rummaging through the pile of cases, boxes, bags, and guns for the stuff he would bring tonight. Once he was sure of his selection, he then went and grabbed some more stuff for Yuno to bring with her.

"What are those, Yukki?"

"Let's see... Here we have additional loaded magazines for AK-74 type rifles, loose 5.45x39mm rounds for magazine refills, a first aid kit, some painkillers, a field surgery kit, and a few morphine injectors. Don't worry, the medical supplies have instructions in English, and they're quite easy to use."

"Oh, I see. It pays to be prepared after all..."

He then grabbed around six loaded magazines for their pistols, and then grabbed a box full of attachments, rails, and tools.

"Give me your gun, Yuno."

"Eh? What are you gonna do with it, Yukki?"

"Magic, my love. Come with me and see for yourself."

The two went over to the bunker workbench, where Yukki told Yuno that he and his boys worked on modifying their weapons and gear on it. Once he was settled in, he first made sure that the carbine was not loaded, and then he carefully removed the bottom half of the stock wooden handguard the carbine had. He scrounged around the box for a while before he finally found what he was looking for: a black-coated aluminum alloy handguard with rails on the 9 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions, presumably for attaching foregrips, flashlights, laser designators and combined tactical devices. Once the handguard was firmly in place, he then grabbed a rail mount from the box, placed it on the carbine's rear sight, and made sure that it was securely positioned. He then removed the stock pistol grip and replaced it with a more contoured one with a cleaning kit inside of it, and then he took a compatible holographic sight from the box, put it on the rail mount, ensured that it was properly zeroed, and then he took a foregrip from the box and put it on the bottom rail of the handguard. Finally, he took a compact combined flashlight/laser suite from the box and put it on the left hand-side rail, making sure that the device faced the same way as the business end of the rifle, which he then fitted with a suppressor he had on him, which turned out to be a compatible one.

All in all, it took Yukki around five minutes to install some modifications to Yuno's Kalashnikov carbine, which he immediately handed to her after checking if the critical internal parts still worked.

"So, how do you like your gun?"

"It's still a bit dirty, but so far I think I like the way it looks and handles. I could use some help with getting used to the sight, though..."

"Oh, the EOtech sight? It's quite simple, actually. Your carbine has an effective range of 300 meters, so I tinkered with the sight a bit so it could accurately reflect your weapon's effective range. I'll fill you in on the details later."

"Ah, okay. How about my pistol, Yukki? Can you do the same to it?"

"Not without the right parts, I can't. Don't worry, we're about to go into town again, so we might probably be able to find some modifications for it."

"It's a promise, okay?"

"It is."

Yukki then grabbed a relatively fresh set of soft body armor from the stash along with a chest rig/trauma plate carrier with virgin rifle plates, and told Yuno to stand still as he first put the soft body armor on her, then he had her don the plate carrier and adjusted the straps until she was satisfied with how her gear fits her, being careful not to have his hands make contact with her chest too much.

"You know you're always welcome to use my body any way you want, Yukki, so why are you trying to steer your hands away from my chest?"

"Let's just say that I don't wanna get distracted by your... assets too much. I'm on the job, after all."

Yuno was disappointed because her man wouldn't touch her as much as she wanted him to, but she also understood that now would not be the best time for that. Then, Yukki had her wear what he told her was a high cut helmet, which had enough space on the sides for her headset to fit, and he then attached what appeared to be night vision goggles on the slot at the front of the helmet, with the batteries for it mounted at the back.

By then, he was also wearing the same kind of helmet as she was, complete with matching night vision goggles and headset. However, his face was now obscured by a balaclava, and the helmet had some sky blue patches attached to it, which she was told were the UN patches Peacekeeper wanted them to wear in lieu of the blue UN helmets and body armor he originally required. Yukki then replaced the BEAR patches on his and Yuno's uniforms and rigs with UN ones, and once it was done, he began filling her plate carrier's pouches with the stuff he pulled out of the stash earlier.

"Does your plate carrier feel heavy at all?"

"It's starting to feel like it, but as long as I'm with you, my love, this is nothing."

"That's the spirit."

And then Anton came to them, himself all geared up and ready to go, with two plastic bags filled with food and drinks in his hands.

"You lovebirds done? Good. Here's some food and drinks - we don't wanna get hungry or thirsty at the worst possible time now, do we?"

They both took a bag each from the operator and put them into their respective bags - which also had additional ammunition and medical supplies inside. After that and a few last-minute checks, fixes and other stuff, they went over the plan once more with Anton and Yuri, drank a bottle of water, and then made their way to the bunker door with Anton in tow.

The guests began to cheer when they saw Yuno all geared up and ready to go out and kick ass, which made her even more nervous than she was before. Yukki put a hand on her shoulder to assure her that everything would be fine, which she acknowledged with a kiss to the cheek followed by a smile, which only served to make the other BEAR operators more agitated.

"Hey! Take care of Snowman for us, okay?"

"Kick ass, pink girl!"

"How about us, guys?"

"Hahahahaha! Alright, take care, boys! Go and kick ass out there!"

"Don't forget to bring me some weed, bro, I could really use a joint right now!"

"Ignore that pothead, Foxhound. You have to get going now, time's not your friend. Keep your eyes and ears peeled out there. There's gonna be a firestorm at the resort tonight. We'll be waiting for you to be back here."

"We'll be back, I'm sure of it. Take care, bro."

After a few more minutes of goodbyes and advice, the three finally began the long trek through the tunnel network to their entry point to the shoreline. Yukki took the time to explain things further to Yuno, with Anton pitching in every once in a while to provide additional information, or to correct Yukki's mistellings of things.

It took the trio fifteen minutes to get to their stop - an opening which led to a spot in the rocky cliffs separating the shoreline from the Reserve Base. Once they were outside, Anton motioned for the two lovebirds to put their goggles on, as it was a moonless night they were going into. Soon enough the three took up low ready stances as they moven stealthily towards the rock bunker, which to no one's surprise was manned by lightly-armed Scavs, although there were fewer of them positioned there than the last time Yukki and Anton was there, since right now, there was a big deal going down at the resort.

When they have gotten themselves to what turned out to be an advantageous position, Anton motioned for Yukki and Yuno to halt.

"Five Scavs near the rock bunker, no phones or radios visible, armed with a mix of Tokarevs, shotguns and Mosin rifles. Looks like they're having quite the party down there."

"Copy that. Do we waste them now?"

As Yukki asked for clearance to open fire, the Scavs began firing at random towards their rear, thinking that they might have spotted somethimg hostile in the distance.

"Negative. Stand by - they're currently checking if there was anybody to their six."

"Copy. Standing by."

"Scratch that, they're relaxed again, prepare to open fire."

Yukki then tapped Yuno in the cheek to signal to her that she should be ready to open fire.

"Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it... Foxhound to team, fire at will."

A relatively quiet storm of lead rained down upon the unsuspecting Scavs, catching them off guard. Then, as quickly as it began, the shooting ended, with all the Scavs targeted being killed within seconds of Anton giving the go signal.


	8. Chapter 8

_Escape from Tarkov is a Battlestate Games production. Mirai Nikki, also known as "The Future Diary" was written and illustrated(?) by Sakae Esuno. We do not own any of this._

 _Story content may not accurately reflect actual gameplay experience, and is subject to change as Escape from Tarkov is still in the closed beta stage of development as of this writing._

* * *

"Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it... Foxhound to team, fire at will."

A relatively quiet storm of lead rained down upon the unsuspecting Scavs, catching them off guard. Then, as quickly as it began, the shooting ended, with all the Scavs targeted being killed within seconds of Anton giving the go signal.

"Cease fire, cease fire. Targets are unresponsive, looks like we killed all of them."

"Copy that."

As soon as Anton gave the all clear, Yukki and Yuno slowly got to their feet and followed the veteran operator as he approached the bunch of dead Scavs near the rock bunker.

"Watch your steps, people. There could be booby traps set up along the way."

After a few agonizing minutes of slow and low movement, the trio had finally arrived at the rock bunker. Anton motioned for Yukki and Yuno to begin searching the bunker for anything even remotely useful while he took position near the entry to provide cover.

"What have you guys found so far?"

"Let's see... Trash, more trash, even more trash, and - oh hey, there's some ammo in this wooden crate here!"

"What kind of ammo?"

"It's a fresh box of 5.45x39mm... BS. It has at least thirty rounds in it."

"Take it. We'll need all the ammo we can get. If we can't shoot it, we sell it. Anything else?"

"Well, there's a loaded Makarov here, an unopened pack of Russian army rations, a PSO scope, two AI-2 medkits, and at least five loose 7.62x39mm rounds, probably PS."

"Take them too - we could use a bit more food and medicine, and Makarovs are easy money on the market. The scope and 7.62 might sell for a bit more though."

Yukki then took all the crate's contents and put them in his rucksack, ensuring that the pistol and the ammunition was rendered safe for transport beforehand.

"You done? Good, now cover me - I gotta see what these shits had on them."

"Roger that. Yuno, cover my six."

"Cover your what, love?"

"Ah, whatever, just cover the direction my back is pointing at."

"Got it."

The lovers stood low with their backs to each other and scanned their surroundings for what felt like an eternity as Anton searched the dead Scavs' bags and pockets for anything they could use, sell or barter.

After what turned out to be five minutes, Anton had already rid the dead Scavs of everything they had save for the clothes, which stunk worse than an abandoned meat shop filled with rotten meat, or at least that was how he described the Scavs' smell.

"So what'd these dicks have, apart from the guns in their hands?"

"They got some unopened boxes of fruit juice - they're surprisingly cold, these Scavs probably managed to power a fridge somewhere in the resort - and some cans of tuna and meat, a few two-meter long hoses, a bunch of tools, around two bags of nuts and bolts, three 100ml bottles of WD-40, two bottles of gunpowder, six packs of cigarettes, around RUB10,520 cash total from all of them combined, and then there's the various fisherman vests and cheap rigs they had on them, and they're all filled with ammo too."

The trio wasted no time as they hurriedly split the loot between the three of them, as each one's bag wouldn't have had enough space to carry everything Anton found on the Scavs, guns and ammo included. Long arms that wouldn't fit inside - even with part of the weapon sticking out of the bag - had to be strapped to the sides.

"Yukki, is that... a tank across the road?"

"Yes, it's an _actual_ tank, not just any armored vehicle with tracks and a turret on it. Why'd you ask, Yuno?"

"I thought that the guys we just killed might also have taken over the tank, and that we'd all be toast if they did."

"That tank's been abandoned for months now, and whatever working parts, munitions and fuel it had has probably been looted and sold off long ago. Last time we were here, that tank didn't even have its engine and mounted machine gun anymore, and I'm pretty sure Peacekeeper's boys took the fire control system along with the other electronic components inside some time after we left. So yeah, the tank isn't a threat to anybody."

Suddenly, the three heard muffled, unintelligible voices and soft footsteps in the distance getting closer to their location just as they had finished packing up their loot.

"Alright, lovebirds, time to shut up, go low and get away from the open - we have company."

They all immediately went back into the bunker and waited for the interlopers to show themselves before they made a move. As the footsteps got louder and the voices came closer, the trio then started to hear the newcomers' conversation more clearly - and in fluent English - as Anton had his light machine gun trained on them.

"Heads up. I see three to four guys, armed with probable M4A1s and a FAL, equipped with thermal scopes and flashlights heading south - looks like they're gonna make a little trip to the resort."

"Are they USEC?"

"Negative. I don't see any USEC or UN insignia on their gear or clothing, and their English sounds way too Western for a bunch of local Scavs."

"So, they're raiders?"

"Affirmative, and it seems to me as if they're the ones supposed to be heading for the resort right now, if our guys' intel was right."

Yukki then took a peek at the raiders to size them up himself.

"Shit, these guys mean business. Do we let them pass, or do we follow them to the resort?"

"We follow them to the resort. Don't forget to keep your distance, watch your step, stay as low and quiet as possible, and do not engage them unless they engage us first."

"Roger that."

As soon as the last raider had turned his back on them, the trio quietly exited the bunker and began moving towards the raiders, making sure to watch their distance and movements. Along the way, the trio had to stop, hide and go prone a few times as the raiders periodically checked their rear if anybody was there.

 _"Man, fuck this."_

 _"You're starting to tremble a bit, Jack. Anything up?"_

 _"I don't know, man, but I feel like someone... or something's been following us."_

 _"Nah, it's only your imagination. I've been checking our six for minutes now, and so far I've seen nothing behind us but grass, rocks and trees."_

 _"Are you sure about that, Jerry?"_

 _"Absolutely. Even the thermal scope didn't spot anything out of the ordinary."_

After a few more minutes, the group of raiders stopped to check their bearings and ammunition. Once they managed to reorient themselves with their map, the raiders continued moving to their designated meetup point. Then, as the trio continued tailing the raiders, Yukki noticed something.

"Ah, shit. Anton, Yuno, get down."

"What is it, my love?"

Yukki pointed out the two new groups of heavily armed men - which he assumed to be more raiders - approaching the raiders they were tailing, with one group coming in from the east, and the other coming right behind the first group of newcomers. The trio immediately took cover and stood still for a few agonizing minutes as they watched the raiders converge and plan their next set of moves for tonight. As the gathering went on, the raiders began to slack off on watching their surroundings to concentrate on their conversation - a mistake Yuno and the two BEAR operators she was accompanying quickly exploited.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Yuno? One wrong move, and they'd spot us right in the open."

"Of course, darling - they're too taken in by their talk to even look around."

"I sure hope you're right - those new guys are fucking jacked."

The raiders, too busy debating on what to do once inside the resort, failed to notice three unknowns come within at least twenty-five meters of them as the trio continued on towards the resort, hoping to get there before the raiders do - and before the Scavs find out. Soon enough, as the three entered the resort through a gap in the fence, Anton once again motioned for Yukki and Yuno to halt.

"What is it, Anton?"

"Three-man Scav patrol at 2 o'clock, coming in fast. Get down."

Once again, the trio dropped onto the ground and stayed out of sight while they waited for the patrolling Scavs to pass. Upon closer inspection, the patrol was better equipped than the Scavs they came upon at the bunker - two 7.62x39mm AKM rifles and a 7.62x51mm Vepr Hunter carbine with a red dot sight, all with attached flashlights, and protected by what appeared to be stolen UNTAR body armor and Russian military-issue 6B47 helmets - but not as loaded as the raiders they just got past.

"Alright, they're gone. Let's go."

The trio wasted no time as they went further into the resort, hoping that the Scavs don't ever get to see them coming. Once they got close to the UN truck, they were spotted by a group of Scavs camping nearby, apparently mistaking them for fellow Scavs in the darkness of the night. They could also see empty bottles of vodka strewn around the campsite.

The Scavs who spotted them were drunk off their asses, and wouldn't be troubling them for the night.

Anton then took an infrared beacon from his pockets, activated it and put it in a spot where the Scavs wouldn't be able to see it. Once the beacon was in place, Yukki and Yuno began rifling through the boxes for anything useful, including the MRE packs Peacekeeper wanted them to bring to him.

"Don't get too greedy, you two - there should still be enough food in there for the Blue Helmets to give to the people."

"Okay, we're good to go. Want some?"

"I'll pa- wait, is that..."

"Yep, chili and macaroni."

"Put it in my rucksack. Some meatballs in marinara sauce would be nice, too."

As Yukki was putting the requested MRE packs into Anton's bag, Yuno motioned for the two BEAR operatives to get down and stay out of sight.

"What is it, baby? And where the fuck did you learn that?"

"I see a bunch of heavily armed guys come in the way we did, my love - they're the raiders we snuck past earlier."

As the trio watched the raiders enter the resort, the Scav patrol they hid from just a few minutes ago came back. Just like them, the raiders took cover and waited for the Scavs to pass them by. Yukki saw this as an opportunity for his team to move.

"Nobody's looking our way, guys. Let's go."

The trio wasted no time getting inside the spa center as the raiders continued on to the truck they used as cover moments ago. Once they were inside, they immediately headed for the west wing - and had to sneak past a Scav or two along the way. From there, they slowly went up the stairs until they reached the third floor, where room 306 was located.

"I'm opening the door. Anton, cover me. Yuno, watch my six."

Anton took position near room 308 - being careful not to expose himself to or fall down the hole in front of it - and scanned left and right while Yuno moved behind Yukki and checked to see if anyone was behind them.

As Yukki fumbled around his pockets looking for the key to room 306, the three began hearing what sounded like a commotion outside.

"Something's going down outside. What is it?"

"I don't understand what they're saying, love, but I think it might mean that they've spotted us."

"Not even that - I think they might have spotted the fucking raiders."

And then, as Yukki unlocked and opened the door, somebody outside the building - most likely a Scav - began shouting something about tourists being seen inside the resort.

A few seconds later, all hell broke loose.

"Guys, get in here!"

"Move your ass, princess - I'm seeing at least eight of them Scavs coming this way! Go!"

Yuno ran towards the now-opened door as Yukki and Anton opened fire on the approaching group of Scavs, seriously injuring - if not outright killing - most of them.

"At least five Scavs eliminated! Get in, man! I'm covering!"

It was Anton's turn to get inside as Yukki continued to put suppressing fire on the surviving Scavs, who have begun returning fire with their semi-automatic Vepr hunting rifles and Saiga-12 shotguns.

"Son of a... There's fucking more of these motherfuckers!"

At this point, Yuno, not wanting her beloved Yukki to fight alone, went back out and began sending suppressed burst after suppressed burst from her short AK towards the Scavs.

"I'm gonna 'nade these fuckers, Yuno! Cover me!"

"On it, darling!"

The pink-haired young woman continued to open up on the Scavs' position as her beloved pulled out a grenade from his rig, took out the pin, and sent it flying towards the offending bandits.

"Grenade! Get in, Yuno!"

She made it inside the room just in time as the grenade exploded in the Scavs' midst, killing whoever the hail of bullets didn't kill already. After a very short while, the only sounds of combat in the air came from outside the building. The team then began searching the room for the data the Therapist said might be there - and anything else the room had that they could carry and use, being careful not to expose themselves to the open window.

"Yukki, I found something on the windowsill - is this thing what we're in here for?"

"What did you find, Yuno?"

The pinkette handed Yukki a black case labeled "0060", and inside was a bunch of notebooks, papers, and flash drives. A quick scan of the printed and written text confirmed his suspicions - this was indeed the stuff the Therapist wanted.

"Good find, love. Anything else?"

"Well, there's also these... things from the orange medicine case nearby. Should we keep them?"

Anton, fresh from checking a dead Scav on the other side of the room, took a peek at the items and pitched in.

"An ophthalmoscope and a portable defibrillator? I say we keep 'em - the Therapist would love that shit."

"You heard the boss man, baby. Put 'em in my bag."

As Yuno opened up the veteran operator's bag and carefully put the two items inside, Anton once again motioned for the two to freeze up and keep quiet.

"Hush. Footsteps approaching from the stairs, coming fast."

Yuno then hurriedly closed the bag up, grabbed her carbine and took position behind the bed with the dead Scav Anton searched earlier, making a bit of noise in the process.

"Ah, fuck. Too noisy, Yuno."

"Sorry."

Yukki then got on the bed and propped his rifle on the dead Scav's leg. This entire time, Anton took position inside the bathroom and concealed himself with the shower curtain, while making sure that his RPK did not poke out too much.

As the footsteps got closer, gunfire suddenly erupted outside the room once again. Apparently, another group of Scavs went up to the third floor to find out what happened to their homies, but they instead encountered what seemed to be the raiders.

"Hey, imported! Fuck off, got it?"

 _"Fuck you too, bitch!"_

 _"Cover me, Danny, I'm moving up!"_

 _"Go, go, go!"_

"Come on, let's get 'em!"

 _"Divide their fucking cheeks, boys!"_

"You fucking bloodsuckers, fuck you!"

 _"Ninja these motherfuckers!"_

"You fucking bastard! Come here, you piece of dog shit! You trying to step to me, you stinky fucking bastard? Come here and try to fuck me! I'll fuck you instead, you bastard! You fucker! Go to hell! Come here, I'll fuck your whole family, you dog shit! Stinky bastard! Shit! Bitch! Scum! Come here, bastard! You fucking scoundrel, bastard come here, you shit! ASS!"

 _"Shut them up, boys!"_

While the raiders and the Scavs traded shots and insults, Anton moved out of the bathroom and went to the bed where Yukki and Yuno were, hoping to figure out what to do next.

"So what do we do now, boss man? We got Scavs and raiders blasting each other just outside the room, and then we also got two Scav gangs and more raiders locked in a menage a trois outside the building. We're fucking stuck here, not getting any action at all."

"We either wait this shit out and finish off whoever remains standing, or we go out there and blast anyone who isn't us. Personally, I'd prefer waiting this shit out, but if you two want to blast it out, I have your six."

The choice was made for them moments later as they heard the door open, followed by two raiders hurriedly entering the room, calling out to their other comrades outside. Once the first raider spotted the trio and opened fire - narrowly missing the three, with the bullets embedding themselves into the wall - at them, they wasted no time tearing the poor sap to shreds.

"Raider down! Let's go!"

 _"What the fu-"_

The other raider had no time to react as Yukki and Yuno immediately tore him apart with their fire, while Anton went outside the door and killed the remaining raiders, who turned out to have been wounded in the encounter with the Scavs, before turning his weapon on the shocked and dumbfounded bandits.

"UNTAR! Fuck 'em up, boys!"

"Come on, lovebirds, go get these fuckers!"

By the time the surviving Scavs began returning fire, it was too late - Yukki and Yuno were now also sending lead flying towards them, with the former adding some literal insult to (fatal) injury, Yuno sending insults of her own not long after.

"You motherfucker, come on you little ass… fuck with me, huh? You fucking little asshole, dickhead cocksucker…You fuckin' come on, come fuck with me! I'll get your ass, you jerk! Oh, you fuckhead motherfucker! Fuck all you and your family! Come on, you cocksucker, slime bucket, shitface turdball! Come on, you scum sucker, you fucking with me? Come on, you asshole!"

"Just lay down and die, you stupid pieces of shit!"

The last thing the Scavs heard before they died was a young Japanese girl insulting them in clear, perfect American English over the sound of gunfire from Kalashnikov-pattern rifles.

"Scavs down."

"Roger that."

The fighting outside was still ongoing as the trio moved towards the pile of dead Scavs on the other end of the hallway to take their half-mask bandanas from them.

"These raiders look very stacked, Yukki! Why aren't we grabbing _their_ stuff?"

"We'll take their shit, alright - we just have to get us the half-masks Prapor needs as proof first."

Anton instinctively double-tapped every dead raider and Scav they passed to make sure that they were indeed dead, before finally replacing his almost-empty 95-round drum mag with a fresh 60-rounder, making sure to pull back on the charging handle to see if he still had one round in the chamber.

"That, and we might not have enough space to take all that shit with us, at least not without throwing out some of the stuff we found earlier. We also have to consider how heavy everything we carry, including our current kit is, too."

Upon reaching the Scavs, they wasted no time taking bandanas off from the ones who wore them, before they began checking the dead Scavs for anything useful once they had collected enough bandanas to satisfy Prapor's request.

"Well, well, look at this dipshit bandit over here."

"What? What'd he have?"

Anton pointed out the seemingly out of place weapon in the hands of one of the dead Scavs, and the pistol tucked in his holster.

"Well, shit. A P90 and a Five-Seven? On a Scav?"

"What else would it be? You want it?"

"Of course."

Yukki then took off his backpack, grabbed the submachine gun from the dead bandit's hands and the pistol from his holster, looted whatever magazines and loose ammunition the Scav had in his chest rig, before putting them all in the bag - making sure to empty a box of fruit juice and two packs of croutons to make more space for the loot.

"Ten dollars says he probably got it off a dead USEC loon - I've seen plenty of them lugging that shit around lately."

Once he had finished putting his bag back on, Yukki motioned for Yuno to come to him and Anton, noticing that she was looting the raiders. As she moved over to where they were, being careful as to not accidentally fall into the hole in the floor, they noticed that she was moving slower than she was supposed to be, and that she was also grunting audibly, almost as if she was pulling or dragging something behind her.

As it turns out, Yuno tied the four dead raiders together and was dragging their corpses towards Yukki and Anton, with their backpacks trailing the raiders' feet.

"So what'd you - hey, Yuno, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Would you mind explaining what the fuck are we seeing, princess?"

Yuno took a minute to catch her breath before she could answer.

"I-I-I... I thought I could probably try and bring them to you guys so that we could decide on what should we take from them... But I guess I was wrong... Sorry, Yukki..."

"It's fine, it's fine, just don't go off doing crazy shit, at least not without telling us, alright? Ya know I can't risk losing ya again."

"Apology accepted, princess, now help us untie these dipshits - we gotta see what we can still take from 'em."

The three wasted no time as they removed everything the raiders had on them or in their pockets, until all that remained was the clothes the raiders wore. It took them five minutes of sorting out what to ditch and what to keep before they decided to go back downstairs and get outside - there was no way up to the roof from within the building.

As the team went outside the building, they were greeted by a scene of absolute carnage - dead and dying Scavs everywhere, blood, guts and bones smearing the walls and the grounds, empty shells, casings and magazines all over the place, the smell of cordite, gunpowder and decomposing flesh permeating the air - and a hail of bullets from a group of Scavs that survived the initial chaos.

"Get back inside!"

Anton then replied with a long, suppressed burst of fire from his light machine gun as Yukki and Yuno ran like hell back inside the west wing of the resort, killing or wounding at least four more Scavs and sending the rest scrambling for cover.

"Alright, lovebirds! Now cover me!"

It was Yukki and Yuno's turn to unleash a storm of lead on the Scavs as Anton made his way back inside. The lovers kept up a steady amount of fire for half a minute - until Yukki's assault rifle clicked empty.

"Ah, shit! My gun's dry! I'm switching to my backup, I only have one full mag for the AK left!"

Yukki then let his primary rifle hang loose from the sling as he pulled out a suppressed FN FAL he took from one of the raiders they killed minutes ago. He limited himself to firing very short bursts, as he wasn't quite used to the recoil from a hefty 7.62mm NATO battle rifle firing in full auto. A minute later, Yuno's carbine clicked empty.

"I'm reloading, darling! Cover me!"

Yuno nearly had a panic attack as she fumbled around her chest rig, looking for a fully-loaded magazine to replace the empty one she dropped. She recovered right in the nick of time, as Yukki had to reload his battle rifle and needed covering fire. She then spotted three Scavs inside the building moving towards them - the exact same Scavs they snuck past earlier.

"Guys! We're gonna get flanked! Get down!"

Yuno then aimed her carbine at one of the newcomers' head, and opened fire.

* * *

 _How's that for some late New Year's fireworks? Anyway, I sure hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and I sure hope 2020 turns out well for all of you reading this. Be sure to also check out my other stories once you're done reading the chapter. This might be a bit late, but Happy New Year, everyone. Needle Gunner out.  
_


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